what was useful to prepare for the baby's arrival

This is part of an email that I sent to an expecting friend, in hopes that she might find it helpful. Since we're in Thailand, it assumes a warm climate for the newborn :)

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Aside from the big pieces, like the cot, stroller & car seat, and changing table (we got a dresser for it, and it's soooooo nice to have a place you can change the baby without bending down), here are things that we have/found useful:

Baby clothes

• 5-6 'underclothes' for newborns were enough in those first few months. I preferred the type that opens up in the front (with ties or snaps), rather than onesies that require the shirt to come over the baby's head. Snaps on the bottom are really really useful for diaper changes, and I didn't really find pull-on pants all that useful until our baby started to be able to stand long enough for me to pull the pants on/off.
• 1-2 sets of newborn clothes that could be worn when going out.
• Get more clothes for 3-6 months from the start. Babies outgrow the newborn stuff so quickly.
  
• Sleeping bag: We finally got one, and it's brilliant. It totally alleviates my fears of the baby suffocating in his blankets, and of course protects him from the cold air-con. In Bangkok, I saw some on sale at Emporium; we got ours at IKEA.
  
• Small blankets: Very useful for when we are out and about, or for nap time. In the beginning, we used the cotton ones as swaddling cloths as well.
• PJs: We only started using PJs when our son was about 6 months old, mainly to try to get him on a bed-time routine.

Slings/baby carriers
Slings are all the vogue, it seems, but we had a Baby Bjorn baby carrier. It was good because it distributed the weight of the baby on both shoulders and seemed to provide the baby some support, but I found it a bit of a pain to put on.

If there's a next time, I'd be interested in an ERGO Carrier, as those seem to distribute the weight on the hips as well--a major shortcoming of the Baby Bjorn--and provide better spinal support for the baby.

In any case, we kept the carrying time to a minimum because it was simply too hot!

Slings seem (obviously) much simpler to use and my brother loved his for his son. Actually, now I would like to have one just to help me carry my 24-lb son for short distances, like to the car. And I really want to try it for breastfeeding.


Milk & stuff

• Breast pump: I have a hand-pump, which works fine, but if you're going back to work and pumping regularly, it's probably worth getting a battery-operated one at least. Nice if it comes as a set in a cooler bag, for easy portability.
• Breastmilk freezer bags
• Breast pads
• Microwave sterilizer for bottles & breast pump, etc. It's a must!
• Bottles, of course. But our son didn't like drinking from the bottle, so I have no idea how many one should have... Get a bottle cleaning brush, too, those are handy.
• Breastfeeding pillow. Before I got MyBrestFriend, I was in constant pain. This pillow saved me! I also wish I could've gotten a little footrest.
  

Bath time

• Baby bath: We had a very plain basin-like tub, but in Japan, we rented one with a drain on the bottom (easy to let water out), and a little ledge?, where the baby's bottom can rest. That made a serious difference!
• 1-2 bath towels. In general, having extra towels and blankets can be very useful, aside from bathtime.
• Nail clippers. I prefer the scissor type; the regular nail clippers scare the heck out of me!
• Thermometer: we got one that you measure the temperature in the ear, and which takes a second.

Other stuff

• Cotton "burp" cloths: You can't have enough of them :) I like these big gauzy cloths, rather than the small, handkerchief-sized ones...but you never know what will come in handy.
• Baby monitor: It's a bit pricey, but it was fantastic to have the AngelCare monitor that not only passes on sound, but tells us if the baby's breathing. A friend gave us their old one, and it's quite amazing what ease of mind it gives us. We also have a regular one, which we take on trips.

Diapers

• Don't get too many of newborn size, as you don't know how big your baby will be upon arrival and how quickly he may outgrow them. Those with 'pee indicators' are awesome (lines in the front that change color when the baby has peed), and I like those with gathers on the top of the backside, to prevent any poo leakage.
• Baby wipes: For the first few months, we just wet cotton pads (the square ones were great) with plain water to clean baby's bum, but baby wipes were of course handy when on the road. Larger wipes are easier to use, especially for poo!
• Diaper bag: There are a lot of cute ones out there, so it's a perfect item for the gift registry :) They should have plenty of pockets, easy to wash and waterproof...which I would imagine most are.
• Portable diaper-changing pad: I got one that you can stick a diaper & wipes into, and which folds up. I saw some cute ones online in the US and some of them come with the diaper bag. Very handy.

Oh, and it's great to have breastfeeding PJs for yourself--you can feed the baby with minimum fuss in the middle of the night.

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what's in a mommy bag?

Our current 'mommy bag' is a meeting bag that I got at some workshop a few years ago.

It's amazingly unattractive...but surprisingly functional, which sadly gives me no excuse for getting something cuter.


What is in our diaper bag? At 8-months, here's our list:

• Diaper changing pad. It's also soooooooooooooo unattractive!! I simply don't understand why the heck they couldn't have produced some in prettier colors or something (well, maybe black was the only ones that made it out to Thailand...and even these were on sale at Central because I guess not many people bought them). But it's very functional and totally worth having.
  
• 3-4 disposable diapers. We use cloth at home, but disposables on the road.
• 1 pack of baby wipes
• 1 change of clothes for the baby
• 1 pair of socks and pants, in case we end up in a freezing cold mall or shop.
• 2 burp cloths (I like the large cotton ones made from gauzy material)
• 1-2 toys (a rattle, teething ring, stuffed animal...)
• 1 light cotton blanket
• 1 spoon & bib for eating solids. The baby's meal goes in a separate cooler bag, which is a bit bulky.
• A few breast pads
• Cloth shopping bag...just in case!
• Breastfeeding cape...but actually, I never really liked it so stopped carrying it altogether.
  

Features that I would love in a mommy bag:

• Lots of pockets inside & out. Mesh pockets on the inside is nice.
• Insulated pockets, to put my son's food in.
• An outside pocket for my stuff, like keys, wallet, mobile phone, etc.
• Comes with diaper changing pad.
• Lighter colored inner lining (when it's black, it's hard to see what's inside).
• Not too deep (again, it would be hard to see what's inside if it were too deep).

Having browsed around, the one that I'm drooling for now are Ju-Ju-Be's Be All (for daily use) or Be Prepared (for longer trips).



So cute! ♥♥♥



Of course, these don't come all that cheap.

My husband snorted when I told him the price... :p

notice: a temporary? pause in english blogging

It's pretty obvious, but I haven't been updating this blog for over a year now.

I'm not entirely happy about it, as it has been a kind of policy of mine to not let either my Japanese or English blog fall behind, but things got a bit too busy and it's about all I can do to keep up with one blog.

So!

For the time being, I am officially announcing a halt to this one. I hope that I can still find some time to occasionally update this one...

only large quantities of alcohol allowed

The sign at the checkout of Tops Supermarket says:

PLEASE NOTE TO COMPLY WITH NATIONAL LAW,
Everyday from 9.00 am - 11.00 am and 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm, Central Food Retail, Tops Market, Tops Super and Tops Daily will temporarily cease all sales of alcoholic beverages except for quantities of 10 liters or more which are exempt from these restrictions and may be purchased at all times by contacting the Customer Service Counter.

Nice to know that the law to restrict alcohol consumption is in fact to discourage too small quantities of alcohol consumption!

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special airport price, 200%

At the Jakarta International Airport, I went around looking for stamps to send some postcards to Japan.

I finally located some at a bookshop, and the sales lady told us that it was 4,500 rupiah (I think...) to send one card. That was just about all the cash I had left, so I asked for 1 set.

The lady pulled out a calculator and started punching in some numbers. She then turned to us and said,

"That will be 9,000 rupiah."

Huh?

I thought you said it was 4,500?

"Yes, but here it's 9,000 rupiah."

Why??

"It's the airport."

The reply, made with comfortable conviction, left me speechless. What kind of pricing is that and who was the genius who came up with it??? Is anyone so desperate that they would buy them at this rip-off rate???



Of course I didn't buy the stamps and of course the postcards got sent off from Bangkok :p

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rally boom on rajadamnoen

It's now been 3 weeks since the PAD started their rally on Rajadamnoen Ave.

While some days there have been up to 30,000 demonstrators, the numbers go down to as few as 500-1,000 during the weekdays, and it doesn't seem to reflect a true mass movement.


This is from a while ago, but the demonstrators also seem to have their security branch:

...heavily equipped with slingshots (click to see the bigger photo).

Fortunately, it's been a pretty peaceful rally and there has been no need for them to be used.



On one day, there was another rally going on on Rajadamnoen:

This one seemed to be a strike by private bus companies, protesting against some new regulation about gasoline vs gas use.


Rajadamnoen Ave. is the place to be these days to hang out en masse!

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trying out airlines in indonesia

For the first time in my life, I missed a flight.

I was on my way to Bali for a singing gig (another first in my life!), when I missed my connecting flight from Jakarta to Bali...entirely by my own fault, not the airline's.

Talk about feeling ridiculous.

What with an all-important rehearsal that night with the client, I had to get to Bali somehow...


...and did so by purchasing a ticket on Batavia Air, which I had never heard of before.

The price of a one-way ticket to Bali was a staggering less-than-US$50.



Considering the not-so-great reputation of aviation safety in Indonesia, taking a random carrier seemed a bit of a risk.

Nonetheless, I was too exhausted and stressed out to consider further and thus headed to the gate with some trepidation and prayers.


In fact, although the plane was a bit old--over 20 years old--it was clean and luckily the flight was smooth and uneventful. I even made it in plenty of time for the rehearsal.



After coming back to BK, I did a little research. Apparently, just over a year ago, Batavia Air was in the lowest rank of meeting Indonesian flight safety standards, but just as of March 2008, had climbed up to the highest category, in the same rank as Garuda Air and Air Asia Indonesia.


Of course, how much faith one places on the Indonesian flight safety standards is another matter, but this means that you're just as well off flying Batavia Air or Air Asia as you would be on the national carrier, Garuda.

Interesting...and a bit scary!


p.s. Here's a picture of Adam Air's office in Denpasar Airport. Adam Air was shut down in 2007 for having poor safety standards.

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