As the epidemic situation has cooled down, many of my friends have been traveling abroad, and I am also eager to take my baby to Japan for a trip when he turns one year old. I decided to take the opportunity to try it out first. It happened that the dad and baby’s half-year birthday were only one day apart, so I arranged a two-day and one-night trip to Macau to experience it first.
It took about 10 days from the decision to the departure. It was the first parent-child trip. In order to avoid any trauma from traveling with the baby in the future, I decided to bring my sister, a worker, along. I felt that this decision was the right one after the trip.
This time, we chose to stay at the Legend Palace Hotel at Fisherman’s Wharf. For a weekend stay, the price was very reasonable — we checked into a sea view suite with an extra bed on Saturday for $2,700. The hotel’s décor has a Disney-like vintage style. Although it’s only a three-star hotel, the service was attentive. Seeing that we were staying with a baby, they thoughtfully provided a baby crib and a baby bathtub.
The suite had a door separating the rooms, plus two bathrooms, so the privacy might even be better than at home.
One of the highlights of the trip was the buffet meal. Compared to Hong Kong hotels, buffets in Macau hotels offer great value for money. Our baby just entered the solid food stage, so we were looking forward to eating together. In the end, the only things suitable for the baby were watermelon and Hami melon. We let the baby hold the food and try putting it in their mouth — it was incredibly adorable. Having something to eat and play with allowed the baby to sit with us for a full three hours.
The only inconvenience was that the JW hotel buffet we chose didn’t have a nursing room. When I needed to breastfeed, I had to use a nursing cover. Later, as we were leaving, we passed by the connected shopping mall and realized it actually had a nursing room — but the hotel staff didn’t inform us. They had even suggested I breastfeed in the washroom.
After the buffet, we went back to the hotel to check in. The hotel has many great photo spots, so we took pictures, played with the baby, and took a shower. By the time evening came, we were still full from lunch, so we just grabbed a few things from the supermarket nearby instead of sitting down for a proper dinner.
Along the way, we passed by a maternity and baby supplies store. I really enjoy browsing these shops now — looking at baby toys and products makes me happier than shopping for clothes. The best part is that my husband also enjoys it. He doesn’t just wait outside for me to finish or complain that I’m taking too long.
When I go on a trip for the first time, I always worry about the baby not being able to adapt to the local climate. I decided to prepare instant drinking water, milk and instant porridge for the baby. This not only solves the problem of worrying about unclean drinking water, but is also very convenient. I don’t have to rinse the water, disinfect it, and wait for it to freeze. By the time I finish drinking 7788 bottles the next day, I can still make room for the souvenirs I ate.
The next morning before we checked out, we were still playing in the bathtub with the baby. The travel mode is a little different with the child, but it’s also nice to slow down the pace and get some real relaxation.
We checked out at 11 o’clock on time. Many guests left the hotel at the same time. The front desk was overwhelmed with taxis. Fortunately, my friend reminded me to download the taxi-hailing APP early in the morning. The taxis are red/blue in color and have a larger 7-passenger cabin. The starting fare is the same as that of ordinary black taxis, but the blue ones seem to have more passenger capacity and are $5 more expensive.
After checking out, we went to the Ruins of St. Paul’s to take some check-in photos. It was incredibly hot, but luckily there was a UNIQLO nearby where we could use the air conditioning to cool off. We bought some souvenirs near the Ruins of St. Paul’s and then took the bus back to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
It was only 4pm when I got home, and I was back to my usual busy life at home. Overall, this was a good experience, not too tiring (mainly because of my sister). I have enough confidence to cope with the next trip to Japan. I am looking forward to it just thinking about it~
