Travel 2014

2014 is almost over, and it struck me earlier this year that we haven’t traveled nor gone on a family vacation in 2013. Not that I need vacations because I’d go crazy without one, but vacations are always opportunities to take pictures of places other than the usual staple that we frequent as a family. The big event we’ve had for 2014 was our move to our new home at The Minton and now that we’ve settled in nicely, I revisited plans for a vacation.

We were initially deciding if Peter was coming with us, and if not, if grandparents are still able to take care of him for a couple of days we head out as a family somewhere. Going with this arrangement, it would have had to be somewhere close to home and a relatively short trip as well so as not to stress our parents out when they care for Peter. Couple of ideas, and they included:

Legoland in Johor: Hannah has a special interest in this one, and was in fact just asking us about it earlier this year after seeing that NTUC Fairprice had a couple of promotional vouchers for trips there.

Cruise: this has been long on our list, if also because neither of us have been on cruises yet. Oh, it’ll probably turn out to be guilty-laden event where we’ll eat so much food that it’ll be coming out of our ears, but that should be provide equivalent incentive for us to make use of the fitness facilities onboard too.

Staycation @ Sentosa: We had a wonderful, if dreadfully expensive, staycation at Capella Sentosa when Hannah was 2 years old, and were thinking of returning for her to enjoy Resort Worlds Sentosa and Universal Studios.

We decided last week though that Peter would join us for the family vacation of about a week, and that it’d be at year end. Hopefully by then, he would had been better able to walk long distances without tiring quickly. That expanded our travel options quite a bit, though we’re still ever mindful of being financially prudent, and also of prevailing weather conditions in various parts of Asia.

Nha Trang Bay, Vietnam. Neither of us have been to Vietnam before. From what we’ve read, neither Hannah nor Peter would be able to handle a walking-heavy itinerary of the city and sights, and the capital Ho Chih Minh was dense with all the intricacies of a developing city. The coastal city we’re headed to though is some distance away from the capital, necessitating a connecting flight from the capital. The resort we have our eye on at Nha Trang Bay is lovely, but we’re a little worried about the return leg – as the layover at Ho Chih Minh before flying home to Singapore would had been about 8-9 hours. Way too long for Peter!

Koh Samui, Thailand. We haven’t been to this island either, though we’ve both gone to other parts of Thailand several times now. There are direct flights to Koh Samui from Singapore – more convenient – but also a less ‘new’ place for both of us on the other hand.

Perth. Ling is especially interested for the family for a self-drive trip in Australia, as the place is (probably) more child-friendly. Unfortunately, having spent three years in Perth, I’m not wild about going back again so soon! Still, if we were to make the trip there, it’ll be an opportunity to catch-up with my old supervisors and friends at University.

More to come very soon, since we’ve just had Peter’s passport made and will be deciding on the vacation place very soon.

Mmhhmm - a big possibility!
Mmhhmm – a big possibility!