tjinlee

We may be on a ship going nowhere, but it feels like we escaped to paradise. Out here the skies are bluer, the clouds prettier, the sea a glorious backdrop that changes throughout the day.

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We have to take pre-boarding Covid tests, all wear masks and wristbands to track our movements and tap our room-cards to check in and out of all locations (tip: bring a neck lanyard), with temperature checks everywhere. Yet we are logging our first travel memories since Covid started and in a world without travel, the cruises to nowhere were everything!

We cruised twice on Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas in December 2020 and February 2021 and once on Dreamcruise World Dream in March 2021.

On Royal Caribbean, we booked the Grand Loft Suite, followed by the Royal Loft Suite, and on Genting World Dream, the Palace Suite.

ACCOMMODATION

The Royal Caribbean loft suites are excellent, generously-sized, duplexes with huge balconies, separate living and dining areas, they would be at least four times the size of a normal stateroom, and are located at the back of the ship. We sneaked a peek at the balcony staterooms, they’re adequately sized with queen beds and a side sofa that can convert into a single. Two connecting rooms might serve better if you’re traveling as a family of four – more space for the family to spread out, and an extra toilet. View the accommodation options here.

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Our Grand Loft Suite was a floating penthouse! Two-storeys, two full baths, a huge balcony, a dining area and the downstairs sofa turns into a comfy double bed. This is a really great option for families. I didn’t know when I booked it online that it came with a “Genie”. Ours was called Anna and she made magic happen on board. She was able to get us the best seats in the house to all shows, fast track our way to activities and arranged all our dinners and helped plan the most awesome itinerary! More info on Royal class here.

On our second visit, we upgraded to the Royal Loft Suite as we were traveling with my dad. It’s a jaw-dropping 2000+ sqft suite with two jacuzzis, three large balconies, two bathrooms (bathtub upstairs) and a small room on the first level that can be a private room with its own balcony. The Star Suite class also comes with all-inclusive dining (including all alcoholic drinks), activities, free wifi and that inimitable Genie concierge service.

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Warning: You can’t “unsee” the Royal Loft Suite! Huge living areas, a dining table that seats eight, large balconies with jacuzzis – you’ll never want to leave the room!

Fret not if you don’t have a Genie, book as many of your activities on the Royal Caribbean website / Cruise Planner as you can before sailing, and you can follow ours; I pinned our activity to our IG highlights which you can find here.

I tried going online to find out how soon in advance you can pre-book your shows, meals and activities pre-cruise but found one link from RC that said 2 days, one link that said 4 days and another that said 3 months (heck, no wonder you guys are confused). Anyway, I’ll share one of those links here, maybe check in with RC once you’ve booked your sail dates!

The Palace Suite class in Genting is the size of two standard staterooms, the balconies are standard width just twice the length. There is also a Palace Suite Villa on board, which is a larger two bedroom option, but the price and offering compared with the Royal Caribbean Loft Suites was not inspiring. The rooms has low ceilings and it lacks the floor to ceiling glass windows and modern styling of the Royal Caribbean suites.

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The Royal Caribbean Quantum wins hands down on premium accommodation, everything from the room finishing, styling and design. For regular rooms, the balconies are much smaller and narrower then those for regular rooms on Royal Caribbean.

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The one thing that the Dreamcruise did provide which the Royal Caribbean did not – was toiletries/ amenities. Citing eco-conscious practises, which I agree are better for the environment, be aware though that they don’t provide toothbrushes, toothpaste, cotton pads, earbuds, shower caps or anything of that sort on Royal Caribbean. You can purchase them onboard if needed, but best to just BYO. They do provide shampoo, body wash and body lotion. Genting Dreamcruise on the hand provided the whole suite of toiletries, even including kids toiletries.

The main benefit of Genting Palace Suite is the private suite dining and pool areas, reserved show seating, and no-queue access for all public dining areas. More on that later.

DINING

Royal Caribbean scores way above Genting here. There are so many dining options on board Quantum of the Seas, we weren’t able to complete all we wanted to try, even with the 4 night cruise.

Our top picks were Chops Grill (must-try the $19 Seafood Tower) and Silk restaurant. Izumi restaurant serves mainly Japanese rolls, it’s good enough, standard fare (feels a little like Americanised Japanese food), I confess we skipped Jamie’s Italian as it didn’t appeal to my hubby with all the other options on board, but I’ve heard other guests on board vouch that it’s better than the one in Singapore. Wonderland is a novel fusion gastronomy experience you can try (enjoyable and worth a visit, but once is enough).

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Sweet views from American Icon restaurant which is open to all as part of the incisive package, the whimsical gastronomy at Wonderland and sushi at Izumi.

Great dining options are American Icon and Silk restaurant on board the Quantum, which are part of the dining-inclusive packages on board, and have gorgeous daytime views. Windjammer is their buffet restaurant, which is okay but can feel hectic and crowded at times. Our top pick – don’t miss the steaks and seafood tower in Chops Grill, or if you can’t decide, pick Surf & Turf!

As for Genting, we mostly dined in their Palace Suite dining areas because their public restaurant Dream Upper was atrocious. The Palace Suite package covers dining in a private dining area for Palace guests, the food here, comprising an Asian set menu and a Western menu, is adequate.

It wasn’t all bad, we enjoyed our teppanyaki dinner at Uma Umi, the chef put on a wonderful show slicing, dicing and juggling with his utensils. Apart from the teppanyaki restaurant, there was also a hotpot section and dining section where they serve Bento dinners. This restaurant isn’t included in the complimentary dining options for non-suite guests though, you would have to top up.

The next day we were served luncheon meat and cabbage, cold deep-fried rolls and over-cooked chicken strips in the Chinese restaurant Dream Upper (main dining hall) that was included in the package. It was so bad, we all left hungry, and ended up snacking on bee hoon and spring rolls by the pool. After that experience, we skipped Dream Lower (Western dining) which we hope is better than Upper.

That evening we headed back to Bento also located where Uma Umi was, and were made to wait over 50 minutes for the kids food in the restaurant. The adults had finished their meals completely before the kids food was brought out, and worse, they brought out the wrong orders. The ship seems understaffed, service is really inadequate and we had to ask three times for anything before it would come. You can view detailed stories of our food and experiences on board here

FACILITIES

In terms of swimming pools, which are one of the main highlights for kids, Dreamcruise wins here. In addition to the nine water slides (height limits 120cm and 140cm), a water park playground (which does have long queues though) they have a larger pool area that feels less crowded.

Royal Caribbean has a count on how many people can enter the pool, maybe because it’s so small, so there were queues to enter, and they were also really strict on not being able to jump into the pool, not being able to swim to the bottom, and lifeguards would shout (rather rudely) at guests who didn’t enter from the designated entry point, even when the pool wasn’t at maximum capacity. As a result, Tyler really didn’t enjoy the pool, and we never even went there on our second trip with Royal Caribbean (he preferred our in-room jacuzzi). There’s a very nice adults-only solarium with jacuzzis on Royal Caribbean. Perhaps because of this, the kids pools were reduced in size, despite their being two public pools on the roof deck, both felt small and crowded. One way to beat the crowd is to go very early 9-10am or during/ right after lunch 12-2pm. We tried those times and managed to find the pools empty.

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Finally, Dreamcruise also has a private pool and jacuzzi for its Palace suite members. This requires booking, but they do let you enter if it’s not full. In my opinion, it’s probably worth the upgrade to Palace Suites just for this alone!

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The pool is huge, with a large shallow, splash area for babies or kids who aren’t yet water-safe, and there are two jacuzzis at the front of the ship on the same deck as the pool, which would give you amazing sunset views!

ENTERTAINMENT

We preferred the shows on Royal Caribbean to Dreamcruises. We won’t elaborate too much as the shows do change with the sailing dates, but we did enjoy the Gold Art duo show on Royal Caribbean.

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We found some of the entertainment a little “adult” for kids, Eg Feathers and Sequins which was well-produced with an international cast of dancers and singers but came across like a Victoria’s Secret show (if you’re ok with that for your kids)!

Genting’s highlight productions were mainly a magic show and a musical variety show containing dancers, acrobats, singing – and the show would have been better if they had simply let the natural talent of their performers shine through instead of trying to weave in a really tacky and macabre storyline about a boy, a boat, a sea witch on roller skates and a confusing cast of characters.

There’s greatly reduced capacity for shows on board both ships, but more showtimes. You can book your shows and sign up for activities prior to sailing time for Royal Caribbean on their website, their app doesn’t let you book. That might be a good idea, as the bumper car time slots were fully booked by day 1 when we were able to book activities on the app, after boarding. Those who booked online had already secured most spots.

ACTIVITIES

What do we do on cruise on Royal Caribbean? Eat, swim, play ping pong, ride bumper cars, watch live shows, decorate cupcakes, drink cocktails made by a robot, make sushi, iFly, tackle the wave rider, ride the North Star at sunset… I really don’t understand when people say cruises are boring! The 4N cruise felt just right, the 3N cruise left us wanting more!

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What do we do on Dreamcruise? Eat, swim, waterslides, play VR games, watch live shows and in-room movies, play bingo and visit the arcade (which we didn’t really do on the Royal Caribbean as there were so many other activities). The truth is this feel like a casino ship with cruise activities to entertain the wives and kids. You can find jackpot machines and gambling tables all around the ship even in high-traffic corridors and passages, my kids thought there were “arcade” machines everywhere! There were also constant ads for Bingo games and raffle tickets all over the ship, on big screens pre-show, via public announcements – it felt very much casino-driven. Be prepared to spend a small fortune for the VR and Arcade games on board Dream Cruise. The VR rides like Finger Coaster and 3D Dark Room are $15 a person so for a family of four, that’s $60 a pop. We did 4 activities, each takes less than 10 minutes, and that can really add up.

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Arcade games were priced more than on land (SG$4 a game), and be warned… kids can tap their own room cards freely for unlimited credit! Jake spent about $30 before I knew it to win 4 pieces of Mentos and Fruit Plus candy (pieces, mind you – not rolls!), so those claw machines can be very dangerous for your wallet. My advice – keep the kids AWAY from the arcades (I might have had better odds against the Jackpot machines!) One cool (and free) activity you can do, is take your kids to check out the Bridge view of the World Dream. Tyler was really excited to get up close to the control room, where the captain and his crew work. 3N cruise felt long enough, I departed feeling like I had had enough.

Objectively, there’s not so many highlight activities open for kids three and below for both ships. In fact, Royal Caribbean doesn’t allow infants less than 12 months old on board the 4N cruise, but they’re allowed on the 3N cruise.

Both have shallow splash areas, but activities are limited and Kids Clubs restrictive (limited to time slot bookings and frequency of drop-offs, eg Royal Caribbean said each guest could only have a maximum of 3 hours of Kids Club in total for the 3 day cruise, unless this policy has changed since we sailed in December).

For Royal Caribbean, rock climbing (minimum age 6), wave rider (120cm) and iFly (I think is height, although Jake was 5 and our friends kids who were 105cm tall were able to do it).

Dreamcruise activities are awesome for older kids and teens, the water park where all the main slides are have height limits of 120cm and 140cm, rock climbing and zip line also both 140cm. There’s a small obstacle course below the rock-climbing for little kids.

A short note on kids clubs. My kids found the drop off kids club on Royal Caribbean boring as they don’t leave the room and aren’t allowed to play on the playground inside). As a result they didn’t even want to try the one at Dreamcruise, so I’m unable to give feedback on that.

COVID19 TESTING

Lastly, some information on the Covid tests – yes, we all had to take it before sailing, even the kids. Both cruises had different types of tests. Royal Caribbean’s had to be taken 48 hours before boarding, but it allowed us instant access on sailing day. Dreamcruise has their rapid antigen test nose swab on the same day, which takes out about 30 to 45 minutes from your boarding time, and you have to wait onsite for your results.

The Royal Caribbean test was efficient, we took it 48 hours before travel at Raffles City, there was no queue. The kids’ swab is different from the adults one. Theirs is done both nostrils at once, and such a swift swab Jake didn’t even realise when it was done. It doesn’t go very deep for them, just around the entrance area of the nostrils. The adult swab is done one side at a time with a very long Q-tip, and goes much deeper. It’s not comfortable, but it really wasn’t painful. The stick goes all the way up and may trigger your tear ducts, and while that may sound painful, it really wasn’t; it was just odd and uncomfortable.

The Dreamcruise nose swab is less painful and invasive for everyone, the only drawback was having to wait on location for 30 minutes in a non air-conditioned area before boarding, but it really didn’t feel like a huge inconvenience if you bring books or activities to entertain the kids.

Here’s a tip to getting the kids to go easily. I showed them videos of the amazing cruise ship, with all its pools, water play areas, arcade, bumper cars, rock climbing wall… and asked them if they would be willing to let someone “dig their nose” before boarding (to make sure they didn’t have Covid) and they looked at me like that was a trick question! Hell yeah, please dig our noses!

Only one test is now required pre-boarding. Before March 2021, there was a test for pre-boarding and disembarkation, there is now only one test.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN OR DREAMCRUISE?

In summary, I would say Royal Caribbean wins hands-down as an overall experience. Both have their winning points and drawbacks, food, suites, entertainment and service go to Royal Caribbean, Dreamcruise wins for swimming pool, water slide park and way more in-room movies available!

Lastly, some information on the suite classes on Royal Caribbean, which I got so many questions about! For those interested in Suites, there are three classes (Sea, Sky and Star). Skip the Sea class (Junior Suite), you pretty much get no perks except bathrobe and fluffier pillows, a slightly bigger balcony; the room is barely bigger than the Ocean Balcony staterooms (which are also quite lovely BTW).

The Sky Class lists a whole shebang more perks, including breakfast and dinners in the Coastal Kitchen (suite restaurant) but you still have to pay for specialty dining and drinks (and you don’t get a Genie).

The rockstar class is Star Class… all F&B fully covered, the ship your playground with an Express Pass! Only 8 suites out of 2000 rooms actually come with the awesome Genie service. I can’t recommend this enough. It came with a price tag of course, but it works out to less than one business class ticket to Europe (to cover a family of 4 for 3N on board).

Information may change, but the above is based on my personal experiences on board the ships during specific times when we sailed. We paid for all our own cruises, our opinions are entirely our own #notsponsored Hope that helps!

Here’s the rundown and how-to for our epic summer trip through four cities in Europe in twelve days – Oslo, Reykjavík, Paris and London. Tyler was six years old when we made this journey in June 2019.

I have laid out a day by day itinerary based off our actual trip notes and schedule, included links to videos of our experiences via my IG, and links to attractions/ websites featured, and pasted the 12 day itinerary itself at the bottom so you can just use that as a handy reference.

Here we go!

We kicked off our epic mommy-son trip in Oslo, Norway, as I decided I wanted to start in a city I’ve never visited in Europe. It’s also more cost-effective to fly in to a less mainstream city destination, e.g. Helsinki or Oslo compared to cities such as London, Milan or Paris, and a great place to kickstart a series of one way trips to various destinations in Europe.

OSLO, NORWAY (18-20 June)

Hotel : We based ourselves in the Grand Oslo Hotel, perfectly situated at Karl Johan’s gate where many attractions like the Royal Palace and Gardens, Stortorvet (Market Square), Akershus Fort and Waterfront, the Stromma Trains and day trip boats are located within walking distance.

18 June – 715am Arrive in Oslo

Take the express train to the city centre, it’s only 20-30 minutes away by train, very efficient and convenient.

We rested for a couple hours, then headed out for quick lunch in Sunny Side Up, an egg cafe along the street, before starting our day’s tour on an open-topped bus.

2pm It’s really important to keep kids awake in the day time if you can, to get over jet lag fast. I planned to arrive in the day and to keep him busy until a reasonable bedtime.

I opted for the Open-Top Bus Tour, as it’s fun for kids, and also helps you get your feel for a city, to later navigate your way around on your own.

We decided to make a stop at the Viking Ship Museum (estimate 45 minutes to finish this, try the chocolate-dusted soft-serve Ice cream in front, in the summer time!).

It’s not a very big museum, and its highlights on display are the remains of three Viking ships on display, along with some artefacts and weapons recovered from Viking tombs in the areas around the Oslo Fjord. Stay to watch the 5 minute projection light show “The Vikings Alive”, that they have for one of the ships. It tells the re-imagined story of one of the three ships, from creation, to battle and conquest, exploration of the seas and finally to its eventual retirement as a burial vessel, where it was consigned to its final resting place, buried along with animal sacrifices, tools and treasures for the afterlife when the powerful king passed away.

Tyler was quite intrigued by the ships, once I started telling him the stories of each one. So while the Viking wrecks may initially look unimpressive to little kids, it’s up to you as storyteller to bring them to life for them!

On the way back to town, you can also make a stop at the stunning Oslo Opera House (which we missed as Tyler was clearly suffering from jet lag by this time)

Another option, you can also stop by the waterfront (where the Nobel Peace Centre is located) and catch the Oslo Stromma Train, a cute little train that goes around the city.

We had an early dinner on one of the many cafes along Karl Johan Gate near our hotel, and put Tyler to sleep by 8pm, he slept straight through until 6am the next morning, a good start!

19 June Oslo

9am We started off with breakfast at Unity Bakery (Karl Johan Gate, a two minute walk from the hotel)

1030am Visited the Historical Museum (250m on foot from Karl Johan Gate). On display is the world’s only known Viking helmet in existence, as well as a variety of Viking weapons and accoutrements. There’s also a small section on the second floor with a couple of Egyptian mummy exhibits. It’s a little museum, not like the massive ones in London or Paris, but if you’re looking to see a little Viking culture, it’s nearby and with free entry, it’s worth swinging by!

230pm Post-lunch, we visited the Oslo Royal Palace, Palace Park Gardens and Children’s Park with the Rainbow sculpture (below) and many more awesome installations for children to explore. You can also enjoy guided palace tours in the summer.

430pm After spending an hour in the Palace Gardens, we took an Uber to Frogner Sculpture Park (also referred to as Vigeland Sculpture Park). There are a total of 212 statues, each one depicts a remarkable facet of humanity – going from birth to childhood, youth and love, to old age and death. Some are incredibly poignant, some are shocking, and many are open to interpretation.

We played a game, where I asked him to give each statue a name. His answers were humorous, insightful and also poignant. It shows you children have more emotional depth than we sometimes give them credit for. Anyway, this is a reminder for us to be their storytellers. If we don’t slow them down and share the wonder with them, they may never see it.

In this series of photos, he’s interacting with some of the sculptures from the Vigeland installation, where he asked if he could be part of the sculptures, and these are his emotional interpretations – playful, longing, thoughtful and in the last, wanting to be part of one that he calls “Love”

630pm We went back to the hotel for dinner at the Grand Oslo Hotel Restaurant, and put Tyler to sleep by 8pm to get over any lingering jet lag.

2O June Oslo

This was our third and last day in Oslo. We had Breakfast at our favourite spot at Unity Cafe, returning for big, fluffy croissants with strawberry jam, hearty eggs for breakfast and his favourite hot chocolate.

After breakfast, we headed on foot to Akershus Fort and Castle (a 10 minute walk from the hotel.

Akershus is a 700 year old fortress and castle built in the medieval ages. He enjoyed the audio tour, listening intently in every room, especially enjoying the ghost stories and the exterior areas of the fortress with the courtyard and cannons. Level up in sightseeing, when your kid can follow the audio guide tours!

1230 Head to airport (Train)

Right after our morning’s exploration of Akershus, we went back to get the luggage from our hotel and headed straight to the airport, once again by the very convenient train.

If you arrive earlier, there’s a little airplane playground in front of the Joe and the Juice at the Arrival Hall that Tyler really loved. I let him play for 20 minutes after we had checked-in and dropped off all luggage.

Last note on Oslo, and on the shortlisted activities which we didn’t get to visit in our short stay. You can also check out the Tusenfryd Amusement Park, EKT Riding School and Petting Zoo and the Bergen Train, a scenic train ride I’ve heard described as having stunning “jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery”,with views of fjords, waterfalls and rivers. There’s also a brand-new Viking Planet, interactive digital attraction that opened the day we left! Looks like we’ll have to make a return visit!

350pm Departure to Iceland

REYKJAVIK- ICELAND (20-23 June)

The hotel I would recommend would be Sandholt Hotel, located right in the heart of Reykjavík. We stayed there on our first trip a year ago with Jake, and I much preferred it to the Townhouse 41 Hotel where we stayed this time, which was much more like a hostel.

20 June – Oslo to Iceland (arrive 430pm KEF)

830pm Taking advantage of Iceland’s 24 hour sunshine while we were there, I booked the Midnight Sun Whale Watching tour (Elding’s) for the first night of our arrival in Reykjavik.

I might not recommended this for kids under eight, it can be underwhelming if they’re expecting to get up close and really see whales. Most of the time, it’s just a glimpse of a fin or tail. They mostly also spot Minke whales in these parts, you would be very lucky to see a Humpback. Minke whales are among the smallest of the whales, to set your expectations, they’re about 1/5 the size of their large cousins like the Blue whale and the Grey whale.

It’s still a pleasant experience taking a boat out to sea if it’s adults or older kids. The tour ended close to midnight, and I almost had to carry my sleepy boy off the boat.

21 June Reykjavík

9am Breakfast at Sandholt

10am Finally, for the main event! We actually made this trip so my little whale-obsessed boy could visit the Whale Museum of Iceland! Imagine more than a dozen life-sizes whales – from the sperm whale and humpback whale, and the smallest whales like Beluga and Orca to the great Blue Whale, largest mammal which ever lived in our planet’s history. They’re all here in the whale museum! We spent two hours here, as he was just delighted with the whales, a normal visit might take 45 minutes to browse all the exhibits!

After a visit to the museum, I can suggest lunch at nearby Icelandic Fish and Chips. We ate there with Jake in my last visit, but didn’t have time this time round as Tyler spent over two hours in the whale museum and we had another activity lined up after.

230pm Following lunch, I booked an ATV and Blue Lagoon Tour via Reykjavik Excursions. Please note that entry tickets to the Blue Lagoon itself, which are based on a specific timing (eg I booked for 4pm) weren’t included in the booking of the tour. Its advisable to book Blue Lagoon tickets online in advance if going in the popular spring and summer seasons.

The ATV tour was a fun, wild ride through the mountains near Reykjavík. The machines were well-maintained, and well-equipped to ride rough over the bumpy, lumpy mountain terrain. The ride might be a little rocky for a passenger, I would say it’s much more fun to be the rider than the pillion passenger! Nonetheless, we had an enjoyable one hour ride on these ATVs, before heading to the iconic Blue Lagoon.

Next up -Welcome to the Blue Lagoon! We’ve gone once in the summer time and once in early spring when it was much colder. It was pretty crowded both times, but the Lagoon is pretty large, so you don’t really feel the crowd. The surreal blue of the blue lagoon is what will hit you each time you see it. It’s a 38 degree Geo-thermal pool, and once you’re inside, it feels like you’re in a giant sauna. Arm floats are compulsory for kids, and there are several areas to explore, including a booth where you can get free face and hair masks to wear while enjoying the blue lagoon, another area with a “waterfall” that you can rinse your hair and face, and a bar in the water where you can get a beer or milkshake. You don’t feel the cold one you’re in, but getting in and out are different matters!

815pm We caught the last bus by our tour operator back to Reykjavic, and our hotel (about 45 minutes from the Blue Lagoon) and we slept very very well!

22 June Vik

For the highlight of our trip, I had booked a five hour shoot with www.shootmytravel.com with locally-based photographer Kevin Pages, and it was an “essential Iceland” in one day experience, perfect if you want to cover it all in a nutshell – with a waterfall, glaciers, Icelandic horse, the DC plane wreck and the black sand beach at Vik!

We made some arrangements with our photographer guide Kevin who took us around in his SUV, and decided to start with a horse ride at popular waterfall destination Skogafalls, Tyler rode the horse, which was a gentle, sturdy animal, great for first time or inexperienced riders.

Following the waterfall, and a lunch break at a local cafe, we drive up to Vik with a stopover to visit to the Glaciers at Solheimajokull

The glaciers were stunning of course, but I do have to share that’s it’s about a One KM hike in and back out over rough sandy, rocky terrain, and weather being unpredictable, it also started to rain while we were out getting some shots. Tyler found it hard to keep up after a while, and photographer Kevin had to give him a piggy back ride halfway, and we had to make stops for him to rest and play. You’ll have to decide for yourself if it’s worth the hike in and out to see the glaciers, and if you decide to skip it, there’s still plenty to see…

Following the glaciers, we wrapped up the day in Vik where we visited the DC plane wreck near the sea, and also the black sand beach famed for its dramatic wall of basphalt columns.

I have almost no words for the way Tyler interacted with the DC Plane Wreck in Iceland. He loves airplanes, seeing this one beached near the sea, a forlorn wreckage riddled with bullet holes and ripped apart was both exhilarating and poignant. Instead of Tragedy, I shared with him it’s story of Triumph.

Not one of its five crew died in the crash, miraculously, and it’s pilot was given an award for heroism, playing his role in landing this plane on the beach, meters from the sea he was aiming for. The plane was destroyed, but all five men walked away from the wreckage. Now what could be a more beautiful story, for this strange and beautiful behemoth stranded in stark incongruity against the lunar landscape of its final resting place.

The last stop was at the Black Sand Beach in Vik. It’s a stunning, surreal landscape, strangely more beautiful on grey cloudy days than in bright sunshine like the day we were there. The first time I saw it a year ago, it felt like we were on a different planet. Little wonder that it’s also been shot as a location for The Wall in the scenes of the Night Watch on Game of Thrones. I’m including photos of Jake shot a year ago, so you can compare a cloudy day with a sunny day, and see how different the beach looks!

Cloudy and slightly wet day above, with no other tourists around because of the drizzle. Photos shot in bright sunlight below, where we were unable to shoot certain angles because the beach was heaving with tourists!

23 June

We departed Reykjavík after too short a stay, we could definitely have done one more day, and headed to the airport via Flybus. Give yourself a full two hours at the airport, there were long lines for Iceland Air, and we only just cleared the check-in on time. There is a family lane if you’re traveling with kids under five, so you can look for that line or ask an attendant to direct you to it.

PARIS, FRANCE (23-26 June)

We stayed at the Le Bellechasse St Germaine, a boutique hotel which I chose for proximity to an underground station as well as its location in a neighbourhood with lots of cafes, near the Musee D’Orsay and a short walk from the River Seine.

4pm Retro Sidecar Tour – Tyler literally screamed with joy when he saw this retro sidecar pull up next to our hotel.

We zipped through the city, navigated the small streets in Montmartre, visited the Artist’s Square, paused for ice-cream, got a street portrait, stopped by the Sacre Couer and passed by grand monuments like the Opera House and the Louvre, all on a zippy Retro Bike with our guide Thomas, who was so great with kids!

Highly recommend this (if you’re not faint-hearted)! Oh, wear pants, you’ll probably be riding pillion behind the driver if it’s two of you; the sidecar only fits one passenger unless your kid is under two and can squeeze in on your lap. Alternatively, book two sidecars (but it’s more pocket-friendly to ride in one)!

24 June Paris

10am Museum of Natural History (this was in our itinerary, but I confess we didn’t make it, as I got lazy and we decided to sleep in and have a leisurely morning! I’ve visited the museum before on a previous trip to Paris, and do recommend it as a kid-friendly destination with beautiful architecture – well worth the visit.

230pm Tour with Julien… how to roll in Paris!

As we were traveling in the June peak summer season, all public transport and museums were heaving with crowds, so we decided to roll with the locals! We booked this cool buggy tour with Julian from www.withlocals.com

We avoided the big museums and tourist hotspots with their snaking lines, with Julian taking us down small neighbourhood streets, his favourite little bakery, sampling some gelato off the beaten track and visiting a mini-coliseum that I never knew existed in the city! (Here’s a code for a €15 discount valid for a booking on Withlocals)

All that walking can get too much for little legs, so this was just perfect!

715pm Finally, we booked a two hour sunset shoot with local photographer Meyrie, again on Www.shootmytravel.com as I wanted photos with the iconic Eiffel Tower and along the lovely River Seine.

Highly recommend this, as the local photographer is able to take you behind the scenes into all the back alleys and riverside where you’d be able to get amazing views of the Eiffel Tower, without any of the crowd!

We enjoyed our time with Meyrie, and I just love these keepsake photos she captured of me and Tyler. (Book before December and you can use my code TJIN25 for $25 off when you book with shootmytravel.com)

25 June Paris

1030am To start the day, I booked a Paris Kids Tour with Valentina on www.withlocals.com

It was a lovely kid-oriented walking tour to check out the play areas by the river and the Tuileries Garden.

Our guide Valentina was lovely, she took us to play areas by the river which we would never have discovered otherwise, we stopped for galettes and iced tea when Tyler got too hot, and ended up our tour in the Tuileries where she finally left us to play in the carnival.

Tyler and I rode bumper cars, he entered a four storey obstacle course, and went on a couple rides at the Tuileries summer carnival – loads of fun!

1pm Lunch at Angelina’s – this was a short walk across the street from Tuileries. This Paris institution is famed, of course, for its hot chocolate and sweet treats. We had burgers and soup, and saved our tummies for the treats! It was too hot for hot chocolate, so we had iced chocolate and desserts!

After lunch, it was still just too hot to be outdoors, so I had to abandon my plans for the Paris Open Top Bus and Louvre Museum – but this would be a great place to slot that in!

Instead I took Tyler to Galeries Lafayette and we explored the iconic shopping destination, made a trip to its toy department and kids fashion floor.

LONDON, UK (26 June – 30 June)

26 June London

The quickest way from Paris to London (and vice versa) is by the Eurostar. Interestingly, these train tickets cost more than any of my other connecting flights in Europe. The journey was fast and smooth, however, and we were there in just two hours.

In London, we stayed at the Ampersand Hotel. I really recommend this hotel!

It was really well-located in South Kensington, with friendly and great service staff, and a great base to visit all the museums and with the South Ken underground just across the street that’s a direct stop to many other attractions including Covent Garden, Leicester Square, British Museum (Holborn) and Tower of London (Tower Hill), to name just a few.

South Kensington Tube is a great base as it’s a direct train to many popular stations like Piccadilly Circus, which save you a lot of time changing trains

Being just a short walk from the London Natural History Museum and V&A Museum, we dropped out bags and headed straight out to explore the museums.

The British Natural History Museum remains one of my favourites. Not just for the dinosaurs and the blue whale, but the architecture in this gorgeous building has always been as much of an attraction for me as the exhibits. To be honest, some of the exhibits can be a bit dated, and our own Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in Singapore has as impressive (if not more, in some ways) a catalogue of animal and insect specimens. BUT, the experience of the British Natural History Museum itself, never gets old; this museum is a cathedral to animal and human science, nature and evolution.

We wrapped up with Tapas dinner in South Kensington (so many cafes to choose from).

27 June London

9am We started our day nice and early with breakfast and people-watching at Kensington Creperie

10am Next we headed to THE Toy Store – Hamleys on Oxford Street, take the train from South Kensington to Piccadilly Circus, and a short bus ride will drop you at the doorstep of one of the world’s most famous destination toy stores!

Traveling with kids, this multi-storey toy store was filled with floors of all kinds of toys imaginable. It can be pricey to shop here, and they have loads of interactive demos and stations for kids to try the toys, it can be loads of fun, but you may end up going home with all kinds of toys you never knew you wanted (and wish you didn’t buy!) I suggest you go in the morning, we arrived at 1030am and it was entirely empty, just us… and thousands of toys calling his name.

After our visit to Hamley’s we took a train to Covent Garden where he spent two hours in the London Transport Museum.

4pm By this time, Mommy was in serious need of a break from toy shops and museums, so we took a breather with traditional High Tea at Balthazar (next door to the Transport Museum)

7pm We ended our day with a Ghost Bus Tour (I was meh about this). Tyler loves stories and has a little boy’s fascination with the macabre. This had good reviews online, but I found it so-so for kids.

28 June London

10am Today was the day to tackle the Mother of All Museums – The British Museum.

This Museum is HUGE, housing a vast collection of art and artefacts from all around the world, and will take you at least four hours to see the exhibits with any kind of depth. We went for the Ancient Egyptian mummies, and of course the British Museum has mummies in spades.

The gallery can get pretty crowded, I would probably book the special morning pre-opening tour next time, which takes place before the crowd comes in, you can book it on the museum website.

The Museum also has a range of Family Brochures/ Guide and Activity books, which you can pick up at the information desk in the main atrium. They try to make the exhibits more kid-friendly, although to be honest, many of the incredible and significant artefacts in the British Museum are lost on a six year old. He can’t appreciate the Elgin Marbles, or the incredible Greek relics and Roman artefacts … I will return with him when he’s older, and when I’ve had time to read him the stories and legends of Greek heroes and gods. The exhibits would carry far more significance for him then.

We didn’t get to make it down to the Tower of London this trip, Tyler was tired out by the British Museum – but I left in the itinerary here, as I highly recommend it – again, as with the Roman artefacts, it helps to tell the kids some stories of the Kings, Queens, princes and prisoners who once populated the tower before the visit, it will make the visit much more interesting for them.

3pm We came back to the our hotel to try the Sci-Fi High Tea!

3-2-1 Blast Off 🚀 Love the delight on his face when the rocket smokes up! We enjoyed an out-of-this-world high tea session at our hotel, inspired by the London Science Museum just next door.

The set also came with a chocolate astronaut to dip into hot milk to make your own hot chocolate, as well as ingredients in test tubes and little beakers to mix and create your own drinks!

7pm Dinner at The Ivy, Chelsea Garden. Book ahead for dinner at this iconic dining destination! If you can, ask for a table in the outdoor garden in the spring or summertime. It was so incredibly pretty outdoors, and the food is not bad too.

29 June Windsor

We spent a whole day at Legoland at Windsor. Ok, getting there was EFFORT. We took 3 trains, and I won’t spend more time talking about this, because it was fun… but we do have a Legoland next door in Johore.

If the weather was nice, it might have been a total different experience. But as London was having a 33 degree heatwave that day, I might as well have been in Legoland Malaysia. So, it was fun, but with the long lines and the scorching heat, IMHO, not worth the effort of a day trip to Windsor, if you’re going just for Legoland.

30 June London

And just like that, it’s the last day of our trip! I booked the night flight to ensure he would sleep at least some of the way, and here’s how we spent our final day in London.

10am Science Museum- Head to Wonderlab on Level 3. It’s a kid-friendly interactive gallery where kids can make smoke rings, explore static electricity, chase the sun, make their own flying machines, play with magnetic art, go down three different friction slides… AND check out the Shake Bar on the same floor for milk shakes and ice creams!

1pm We headed to Selfridges for our final lunch. I never leave London without a stopover at The Brass Rail in Selfridges for the must-try Salt Beef and Tongue Sandwiches!

530pm Finally we head back to the hotel to pick up our bags, and head to the airport for our flight home. It costs about GBP50 to take a car from London city to Heathrow, and well worth it on the final leg of our journey back home! The tube is quick, but be prepared to have to lug luggage up and down escalators and steps. We got the hotel to book a car, and got to Heathrow with a couple hours to spare, for the long flight home.

ITINERARY (Summary)

OSLO, NORWAY (18-20 Jun)

18 June Oslo

– Check into Grand Oslo Hotel

– Open-Top Bus

– Viking Ship Museum

– Options: Oslo Opera House and Stromma Train

19 June Oslo

– Breakfast at Unity Bakery

– Historical Museum

– Oslo Royal Palace (and Palace Park Gardens)

– Frogeland Sculpture Park (also referred to as Vigeland Sculpture Par

20 June Oslo

– Akershus Fort and Cast

– Departure to Iceland

REYKJAVIK- ICELAND(20-23 June)

20 June Reykjavík

– Elding’s Whale Watching Midnight Sun Tour

21 June Reykjavík

– Breakfast at Sandholt Bakery

– Whales of Iceland Museum

– Lunch at Icelandic Fish and Chips

– ATV and Blue Lagoon Tour

22 June Vik

All-day Photo shoot with Kevin Pages

– Skogafalls (with horse-riding)

– Solheimajokull Glacier

– Vik Black Sand Beach and Basphalt Columns

– DC plane wreck

PARIS- FRANCE (23 June to 26 June)

– Depart for Paris

– Check in to La Grand Bellechasse Hotel, St Germaine

– Retro Sidecar Tour

24 June Paris

– Tour with Julien (Golf Buggy)

– Eiffel Tower shoot with local photographer Meyrie

25 June Paris

– Paris Kids Tour with Valentina

– Lunch at Angelina’s

– Visit to Galeries Lafayette

– Optional – The Louvre, Paris open-top bus sightseeing

LONDON, UK (26 -30 June)

26 June London

– Paris to London (Eurostar)

– Check in to Ampersand Hotel

– London Natural History Museum and V&A Museum

27 June London

– Breakfast at Kensington Creperie

– Hamleys on Oxford Street,

– Covent Garden – London Transport Museum and High Tea at Balthazar

– Ghost Bus Tour

28 June London

– The British Museum

– Option: Burrough Market, Tower of London, Tate Museum of Modern Art

– Sci-Fi High Tea at Ampersand Hotel

– Dinner at The Ivy, Chelsea Gardens.

29 June Windsor

– Legoland at Windsor

30 June London

– Science Museum- Wonderlab

– Selfridges Lunch at The Brass Rail in Selfridges (Salt beef and Ox tongue sandwiches)

– Depart for Heathrow

Darling, let’s be Adventurers!

Travel is the best education I can give my kids, there’s nothing like witnessing and exploring in real life vs through textbooks and classrooms. It’s important for children to experience and see the world through different lenses, and understand that the world is filled with wonder and diversity.

Here are the best tips and hacks I can share on flight-planning having organised close to fifty trips with the kids. It’s not about spoiling the kids with luxury travel, but about finding the best way to travel that lets you have more space (and sanity), and giving you travel options you may not previously have considered.

Let us begin…

CHOOSING AN AIRLINE/ ROUTE

This is seriously, one of my favourite hacks, flying out to Europe. It’s also led us to discover many cool cities which we may not otherwise have intended on visiting.

It can cost HALF the fare if you’re flying out to “second-tier” cities, like Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki, vs busy, “in-demand” (read “expensive”) airport destinations like London, Paris and Milan. So do some travel research, scroll through the fares, and you’ll see for e.g Round-trip Q-suite tickets on Qatar Airlines from Singapore to Oslo were SGD4,400 each, comparatively, the flights from Singapore to London were approximately SGD6500 on Qatar (and about $7-8k on SQ).

ONE WAY PLEASE

Different airlines have different policies on cost for “one way”, for eg I never book Singapore Airlines one way if I can help it because their one way fare is about 70% to 80% of their full fare, whereas Qatar charged exactly 50% of their round-trip ticket, for a one way fare from Asia to Europe.

Once you’re in Europe and USA, one-way tickets are very common, much like how Budget Airlines operate in Asia.

Ok, so now you’re saying “one way”- how would we get home? This is the best part!

Domestic flights within Europe are relatively affordable (eg flying to Iceland from Oslo costs SGD$250 a ticket, and to Paris from Oslo was SGD$360 a ticket). There are so many destinations within easy reach from airports like Stockholm and Oslo, eg we could have chosen Barcelona, Greece or Portugal, many for less then $300 each once we were in Europe!

These are mostly short flights, 3 hours and below (like flying to Bali from Singapore). Another big tip – NEVER opt for business class for these “domestic” routes; you’ll pay twice the price for pretty much the same economy class seat, just the first 3 rows with a little curtain across and an empty seat placed in between (blocked out) so you have more space. They don’t serve you food (you get nuts and biscuits). They’re similar to Budget flights, even with carriers like British Airways, regional flights are like their version of Scoot.

So, the biggest perks are, you get to fly and return from different destinations, and you get to see more than one city!

REDEMPTION HACKS

Now that you’re all caught up on tier 2 cities and the benefits of flying one-way… Don’t we all love it when scoring Saver point redemptions?

With cities like New York, LA, London and Paris, it can be a waiting game even when booking way ahead, like 10 months before flying. The biggest frustration can be one way confirmed, and you never know if the other one on wait list is going to come through. I’ve waited up to a week before a long-haul flight once, and ended up having to buy the tickets, and paying 25% more.

Anyway my point is, round-trip redemptions are unpredictable which can make it hard to plan ahead. The GOOD NEWS is one-way redemptions are much easier to come by (well, literally 50% easier to get one leg vs two on a hot destination). So what I did this trip was, first I tried to get round-trip tickets to London, as I knew that was definitely on my list, and when I saw I was cleared on the return half, I booked just that, using my points, and proceeded to book the flight up from Singapore to Oslo for the outward bound.

Another tip, although this should seem like common sense by now, redemptions are waaaay easier to less popular destinations, eg I could book Oslo Business Saver on SQ immediately when searching the fares 3 months ago (it’s probably a code-share as they don’t fly direct). I could have redeemed the flight to Norway fully, but I decided that I would much rather pay $2k per business class ticket getting there, and save my points for when I really need them.

So, this is how both Tyler and I flew to Europe and back on Business Class on top airlines for only $4,400 (on Q Suites to Norway, and SQ redemption home)!

CHOOSE A GOOD TRANSFER AIRPORT

Of course I prefer a direct flight, when flying business class long haul, skipping the inconvenience of a transfer, but the significant savings make it worth the inconvenience.

In contrast, I actually welcome the stopover if flying economy, I get to stretch my legs. On this note, some airports are way more efficient and pleasant than others. It may help you to decide for example, to fly Qatar over Turkish Airlines (which IS incidentally Star Alliance, but that transfer in Istanbul nearly cost us our sanity with crazy, long transit queues as if 10 flights had just merged for transfers and were bottlenecked through one screening area. It was literally a war zone with people screaming out their onward destinations, all fearful of missing tight connections, some did). Doha on the other hand was a breeze, smooth traffic, clear signage and no lines. I also like Korean Air as an airport transfer option, they’re usually also about 20% cheaper on fares than SIA (eg I always book Korean Air to Niseko, as the airlines fly direct without you having to transfer luggage in a stopover, and the business class flight was a flat $2,000 which makes a big difference when flying red-eye) and the transit in Seoul comes with lots of kids play areas – like having complimentary Pororo Park-style play zones inside!

BEST FAMILY FLIGHT HACK

Okay, so Business Class is pretty costly whichever way you look at it; another relatively wallet-friendly option, and our favourite one, is to book an extra economy class seat when we travel longer than 6 hours.

We booked 2 extra seats when flying our whole family up to Zurich earlier this year, so Daddy and Tyler could have one row, and Mommy and Jake could have a row. As you can see, it makes a huge difference, you have so much more legroom and space to store stuff, and during meal service, an extra table to put things on, or space to access stuff without having to juggle trays. It’s also much less expensive than four business class tickets!

You can’t book an extra seat online, but you can call in to the airline to add on an extra seat or head down to their office. I’ve found it can make a huge difference, you’ll be thankful for it on a totally full flight. With more code-share flights these days, it’s become rare to see empty seats on planes. Rather than praying and hoping the seat next to you isn’t taken, I prefer to buy the extra seat as an insurance policy. If you calculate, 6 economy seats are also much less costly than 4 business class seats (approx $8k vs $24k when we flew to Zurich from Singapore earlier this year).

I expect I’ll be deploying this hack more and more often as the kids get older, as I don’t want them growing up expecting to fly business class. For now, it’s more peace of mind for mommy, and they can’t yet travel alone!

So that about sums up a whole bunch of travel tips I swear by! I hope it’s helpful to you Jetset Mamas (and papas)! Getting to your destination is part of the journey, and traveling with under-fives can be a big challenge. I hope this inspires more of you to see that the flight doesn’t have to be something to dread, and that planning with new routes and unexpected destinations is actually part of the fun!

Now, go plan your next adventure!

Bon Voyage! This little one looks forward to our trips!

The currency I’ve used is SGD (Singapore Dollars, approx $1.38 to $1 USD at time of publishing.) Ticket prices and airline policies may also change over time, but these are all correct as of present.

I wrote this piece 4 years ago when Tyler was one year old for Prestige magazine. They said write about anything – it’s a column meant to provoke thought, an opinion piece. I decided to write about my then-struggle with motherhood. I found this story in my hard drive, and thought it was still very relevant today; there’s no perfect version of motherhood, only your best version of it. Everyone is different, and so is everyone’s version of motherhood. Let’s not judge others, we don’t know their backstories. Here’s mine.

I spent my early childhood wishing I were a boy. Two of four girls, I never liked playing with dolls or dressing up. I was the kid on roller skates chasing cars with scraped knees, fishing in the drain, building a rocket out of cardboard boxes. Life was wild and wonderful.

In my teens I was the dreamer, forgetting schoolbooks, writing stories and spending too much time in school corridors, banished by irate teachers. I wished I was a boy, they seemed to have more fun.

In my 20s, I tried to toe the line, got my first job, learned to dress like a girl, talk and act like a girl. But I never really could think like my peers, there was always a streak of the renegade I could not shake.

In my 30s, entrepreneurship was a marvelous thrill. All those traits that made me a poor student and a rebellious worker, were the very strengths that made me a dauntless entrepreneur. I excelled in creative pitches, in the field of large-scale event management, where my competitors were all boys. I clicked joyfully through boardrooms in high heels, smiling past the all-boy teams who would say, “Oh no, its her.” I loved the chase and the hunt. I loved the win, and to beat the boys at their game. I was fearless, taking on the ambitious projects that others said would fail. And I was good at it.

The company evolved, the team grew, we won accounts and awards, and we thrived. And then I had a baby.

Life stood still.

Are we expected to unlearn the fast pace of warfare that is modern-day business? The boys did not need to change when they started families, they carried on without pause. But I stopped dead in my tracks – for a moment that seemed an eternity, while I contemplated the confounding dilemma of motherhood.

It is true, that being a business owner granted me the flexibility to build my time and schedule around my son. Yet that was not the greatest stumbling block that stood in the way of blissful motherhood.

The truth was, I did not know how to be a good mother. The very qualities that made me a bold entrepreneur were the very traits that stood in direct conflict with good, responsible motherhood.To be nurturing and motherly, which seemed to come so easily to my sisters and girlfriends, seemed in fact, to stand in such opposition to everything else I was or had come to be in my 40 years before motherhood.

I adore my son – everything about him, every hair on his spiky little head, to his round cheeks, bright eyes and chubby small toes. I love him more than I have ever loved anyone or anything. But I only wanted to play with him. My husband shakes his head, and tells me that just playing with him, taking my one year old on fun and adventurous outings does not count as spending quality time with him.

I cannot put him to sleep, he wants to play when he sees me, and runs crazily from one end of his cot to the other laughing like a manic monkey. I could not see why I should not delegate tasks like diaper changing or feeding – I cannot name one person who can remember a single time someone changed their diaper. Strategic outsourcing and task-delegation are just two key things you learn in business leadership.

In time, I overcame the guilt and accepted that I was never going to be very good at conventional motherhood. No one has it all, nobody is perfect, and motherhood will be an individual journey that we should not judge others for. I am always going to march to the beat of a different drum, and it is what I believe will make me an amazing mother when my son is older.

I will draw and tell him stories, we can ride roller coasters on Tuesdays, catch tadpoles in drains, chase cars in roller skates and build rockets out of cardboard boxes. I will teach him to be brave and fearless, he will love life and adventure. My little renegade will march to the beat of his own drum.

One day, hopefully, he will meet a woman who clicks joyfully through a boardroom in high heels, and he will say, “Oh yes, it’s her!”

And they live happily ever after, raising my unconventional, renegade grandchildren.

Tyler turns four! This happy, cheeky little fellow is still loving airplanes, so we decided to do another airplane-themed party – but with a change from last year. The party this year focuses more on Airports and Travel; where last year he was a fighter pilot, this year he’s a plane captain!  

First, a quick look at the venue. We discovered the MOCA Cafe driving past in the Dempsey area, where I spotted an all-glass restaurant in a lush, green setting.  We stopped by to take a look, and it was blessed with plenty of beautiful usable outdoor space, which parents could see from within the air-conditioned glass cafe. It was perfect for the kids party I had in mind! In front, we parked the Air Force fleet. Eight mechanized planes, with a full runway setup in the outdoor space. We used masking tape to create runway markings and stationed blinking yellow lights (picked up from the Beach Road Army Market) to create the effect of a real runway! Captain Tyler Lim is ready for take-off! A wide-angled view of the space with the MOCA Cafe in the backdrop. Little guests had so much fun zipping around on the motor planes! 

Moving indoors… Let’s start with that stunning 3D feature wall. 

Yes, it’s amazing! It’s a 3D cut-out airplane with a pop-out control tower and runway that actually lit up! This statement backdrop was designed and produced by Fairy Floss Party and provided the “wow” factor. Not to mention, it lit up my little birthday boy’s face like fireworks in a night sky.  It also made for great party photos! Little party-goers had so much fun with all the pilot-themed props like aviators and headphones! 

The other stars of the party, are of course the dessert table and THE CAKE. This beautiful fondant cake (notice the details all around) with a 3D plane character (Long Long from Airport Diaries) and Control Tower was created by Little House of Dreams.

Taking a closer look at the gorgeous dessert table….I loved the stylish red and blue spread created by Fairy Floss Party.  Featuring suitcase macarons on a luggage belt, bottles “jet fuel” for hydration, chocolate suitcases and many delightful little details. Macarons on a luggage belt Flight-themed cookiesChocolate wrapped like suitcases Cupcakes on arrivalBottled jet-fuel for refuelling!

One of my favorite elements in party-planning is to have awesome gifts! I ordered 25 ride-on Trunki luggage (for the kids aged between 1 to 5) and let the little passengers choose their own design – between Unicorns, Pirate Ships, Yellow Taxis, Red Buses and Bluebell Broncos – half the fun was in choosing their favorite ride-on luggage!  Once they chose their Trunki, they were able to claim it with personalised embroidered flight tags. 

I placed the name tags on the entry table where they were able to pick up theirs, choose a coloured carabiner, and voila! – a cool name tag for their Trunki luggage, travel suitcase or even school bag. I got these made at the Beach Road Army Market. It took about a week, I gave them all the names and they produced the tags which are in a nice thick canvas belt material with an embroidered airplane. Here’s an up-close look. The tags come in many colours and you can also choose different font colours (like red, organs or neon yellow which I thought was cool) but I chose the white as I wanted the kids to be able to choose coloured caribiners. Captain J Lim greets the passengers! Once they collected their Trunkis, they got to fill them with travel and pilot-themed goodies ranging from Aviator shades to passport covers, pilot headphones and even a co-pilot buddy bear! This little guy is all kitted out! We tied floating airplane balloons to the luggage, so it looked like jet-liners filled the sky above! 

One simple and very effective thing I did to entertain the kids, was to order four of those IKEA coffee tables (the square white ones that are $12 each) and joined them to make a giant play table that was just the right height for the kids. I ordered a runway poster online and placed two airport sets on it to create our very own Airport Experience Table! This was very popular with the kids, from 1 year to 6 years, providing them with quiet time for hands-on imaginative play, in between activities like getting air time in the bouncy castle and riding the little jet planes outdoors.

Another big treat for the little guests was the sensory table operated by Tickle Your Senses. They’re super creative and can work with any theme you come up with! Check out these amazing personalised name stamps that they came up with! In addition to the personalised name stampers, they got to take home their own play doh kits, and make lave lamps with airplane toppers. Highly recommended sensory play that entertains both younger and older kids (about 2 to 7 years).

Finally, one of my favorite details from the setup was this retro airplane seat, complete with movable arms, seat belt and tray table! We rented it from Lorgan’s Retro store along Pasir Panjang Road, they deliver and pick it up, service included in the rental fee (about 30% of purchase price).The in-flight Steward demonstrates the seat functions! As expected, the kids love sitting in it! A great place for friends and family portraits! 

Thank you everyone for flying with Captain Tyler for his 4th Birthday Party. Hope you had as much fun sharing our party details as we did putting it together (#OCDMom)!