I’m one of those parents who travel with kids. Not that I don’t wish for a romantic getaway, or a trip with ADULTS only, but I simply do not have the luxury. There is no one to help me with our kids, so we tag them along since they were babies.

My kids had their first plane trip when they were 21 and 4 months old. It’s not a long flight though, but only 2 hours. I should blog about how to prepare kids on their first plane ride next time.

As for today, let’s talk about packing.

I hate packing, and unpacking after a trip. But then, with kids coming along, doing the right packing is very important.

If you are traveling with a baby, make sure that you pack the formula, bottle, diapers, lots of baby clothes and at least one comfort object. Some babies are very sensitive with a change of environment, so just try to make sure that your baby is comfortable throughout the journey. Pack some medication too, just in case you might need it.

My kids were breastfed, so it’s quite convenient traveling with them as I don’t pack formula nor bottle, not until they were toddlers. By then, they can survive on solid food!

For toddler and young kids, try to pack the most comfortable clothes for the destination. If you are heading for the beach, make sure you have their swimsuits, sunblock, and sun hats. Floats and sand toys should be widely available at most family friendly beaches, but if you are heading to beaches meant for couples, then you might need to bring your own toys.

For winter countries, try to pack at least a thick jacket and long john. Try to get more on the destination if need as most locally sold jackets have the right thickness, as comparing to what you may get in tropical country. Kids get annoyed or sick if the jackets are too thick or thin. So, you just want to fit them just well.

Try to pack their medication or doctor prescription, and allergy relief if your kids need special attention. The last thing you want on a vacation is looking for a doctor at an emergency, and you can’t speak the local language! Try to get the hotel to help on this. Trust me, it can be very worrying at times like this, so it’s best to be more prepared than under.

Here are some shots taken in our room:

The pantry area

The bed on the lower floor.

The master bedroom

The other bedroom

The pool is great for the kids, and the hotel is situated by the beach.

The pool

The cafe by the pool

The lovely Hua Hin beach

I love this shot. It shows the blue of the pool, the sea and the sky.

It’s a nice stay at Chom View Hotel, but I won’t stay here again on my future trips to Hua Hin. There are a lot of hotels and villas in Hua Hin, so I want to check them out too.

Stalls at the pier

We boarded the boat as soon as we got there. The view was nice.

The boat ride took about an hour, and it’s quite bumpy.

The map

A shot on the boat ride

We went to 2 snorkeling spots. On the second spot, we dropped by an island.

I found that the corals are not as colorful as Similan Islands, but then, I should not be complaining.

Fish feeding is allowed here, and the fish are so FRIENDLY!

The fish got close to the boats as soon as they were packed. I guess they were used to having tourists around.

It’s our kids’ second snorkeling trip. I’m glad that they love the sea just like their parents. Having a swim in the sea is definitely a great work out, as comparing to taking the fat burner pill.

So, after a night at Nusa Playa Hotel and Spa, we checked out in the afternoon and visited Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi. I’ve heard about this zoo, but we went to Sri Racha Tiger Zoo on our precious trips.

You can get really close to the less harmful animal, and food feeding is allowed.

It’s a great place for kids to get some close up with wild animals, as long as their parents are keeping an eye on them.

Other animals are kept in captivity, and there are some which you can get a closer look.

My kids love this zoo so much, and I think we will come back here again. Anyway, it’s not too far from the city, and with the cheapest car insurance renewed, we might as well travel for a few more short trips this year.

My kids have been to a few zoos, but all of us were surprised to see how hilly Chiangmai Zoo is. At first, I was wondering why they allowed cars to be driven in the zoo area, but it didn’t take me long to realized that it’s impossible to walk and cover every corner of the zoo with 2 kids in stroller and you have to walk uphill and downhill and the place is quite big! We took the shuttle service and it’s a relieve to my back bone and feet…

You can expect to see most common animals here, like any normal zoo. But over here, there are giant pandas!

My kids had never seen real pandas before, so they were thrilled to see the pandas. However, they got bored after awhile as the pandas are pretty slow, and …just sat there and ate. LOL!

Besides that, my kids had the chance to feed the cheetah cubs, the rhino, giraffes and etc. Not to mention, they went on pony rides again!

There is an aquarium here, but we missed it. So, maybe we should visit Chiangmai Zoo Aquarium next time.

BTW, take my advice. Drive in the zoo or take the shuttle bus. It’s impossible to walk like this, if you have young children! You will be exhausted in no time! But luckily, there are a few stalls selling drinks, but I don’t think it’s enough. Do submit your business resumes to the zoo authorities if you are interested to run a business there. Hahaha! Just kidding…

But what worries me the most is how congested the traffic especially on the highway. If you are caught in a bad crawl, it will take at least double the usual time to reach your destination, so it’s not what I have in mind for a short trip.

So, for this coming week, my kids will be staying at home and spend more time with their cousins. They can just play or watch DVD a few times a day. LOL! As long as they are not tearing down the furniture or tv wall mount, I will let them have as much freedom as possible.

So, where are you going during this school holiday?

We went there for lunch yesterday. We had 2 hours to waste while waiting for the turtle hatching center to open on a super hot Sunday. We’ve been to Damai Laut before, but not with the kids. It’s their first trip to this 4 stars resort which is popular for its golf course.

If you are wondering if the lunch was great, oh well, I won’t say that it’s nice as there were flies flying around at our table and it’s totally annoying. I think the hotel management should do something about this instead of waiting for the diners to ask for candles. Anyway, the candle didn’t help much and we tried our best to finish our meals ASAP.

My kids had a good time walking about the pool though. They love swimming pools and which kid doesn’t?

Too bad we were not the guests of the resort, so we couldn’t use the pool. My kids could only enjoy the sun. LOL!

We left the resort after a quick lunch. Nonetheless, hubby stopped by the road to admire the golf course.

He must be thinking about his Ping Golf set at that moment huh?

Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of Thailand and there are lots of historical sites such as Wat Wattanaram and Wat Phra Sri Sanphet. We didn’t take a closer look at the temples as both hubby and I had been here before. My kids were more interested in the elephants than looking at historical remains of the ancient city! Maybe they will learn how to admire and appreciate the historical sites when they are older.

Elephant rides 

Historical sites in Ayutthaya 

The elephant we rode on 

All 4 of us rode on the same elephant for 20 minutes, and it cost RM120 after conversion. The elephant we got is very tall and we had to grab our kids tightly so that they wouldn’t fall off! It’s quite shaky, so if you have a pocket watch or cellphone in your pockets, it’s best to keep an eye on them so that they won’t fall out.

If you are visiting Bangkok soon, make a trip to Ayutthaya for the elephants. You will love it.

If you travel to Bangkok with kids, it’s best to pay Safari World Bangkok a visit. My kids enjoyed the visit a lot because they like animals. Even a small kitten lying in a cat bed excites them. LOL! Most kids love to go to the zoo, but this is better than a zoo as you can see lots of wild animals at the safari park which roam freely like their actual habitats.

There are lots of animal shows performed by dolphins, beluga whales, orang utans, birds and others. You have to check out the schedule of the performance if you don’t want to miss any.

Personally, I like the dolphin show as well as the orang utan show. Don’t miss these 2 performances!

However, my FIL said the bird show was the best. Too bad we missed it since it crashed with Spywar. Anyway, it’s best to reach this park in the morning so that you can spend more time for the shows as well as visiting the animals. It’s quite big, so you will need to allocate a day for this trip.

There are food court, fast food restaurants and buffer lunch for you dining pleasure and the price is quite reasonable.

I took lots of shots of the animals and some of them are posted at my kids’ blog. You can hop over for a peep, if you are interested.

In short, don’t miss this park. Most kids will love it.

I’ve look up the prices of the condos and rental homes from in Hawaii. Some of them are not too expensive at all, and I know we can afford them. However, I have to total up the money we need for the flight tickets, food, car, shopping and accommodation, wah! It will really cost us a fortune after multiplying with 3.5! But it’s one of the vacation trips I have also been looking forward too, and hopefully, we will be able to go there soon.