Modern British Fine Dining at JAAN By Kirk Westaway

JAAN By Kirk Westaway has been sitting on our to-go list for the longest time. Back then, with limited funds in our accounts, a dinner close to $1000 seem almost impossible, after all we had two children and stacks of bills to pay. Years passed, we thank God that we made it, so on our recent 8th wedding anniversary, we finally checked JAAN off the list.

There are restaurants that you go for a simple dinner. But there are also restaurants that you go for memories. JAAN is no doubt the latter. The moment you exited at level seventy of Swissotel, you will be greeted with a vast, panoramic view of Singapore's city skyline. The tables spaced comfortably, dressed in premium white. Sculptural chandelier hung just overhead. 

Emmanuel's 3rd Birthday Celebration with My Bake Studio

When it comes to birthday celebration, a hundred and one things always come to our mind, should we hold a private one or should we invite friends and families? Where's the venue? Should we do catering? And the highlight of the celebration - well other than the birthday person - is none other than the cake. Our children always request something new. Every. Single. Year.

For Olivia, we already had Frozen theme. Rapunzel theme. Mermaid theme. Girl stuff. For Emmanuel, we already did Pooh, and then dinosaurs last year. As a marvel fan myself, I have been sharing so much that he can name all marvel characters as his first words. This year, and very non-surprisingly, he chose HULK. So we had posters designed with his baby head and a hulk body. For to be honest, a Hulk-themed cake isn't easy to find.

That's when we found My Bake Studio, which does super solid customised cake. If you want an unique cake, different from your best friend's son's cake. I mean, children like the same things nowadays, don't they? So if you want something special, My Bake Studio can do it. Whatever you can think of, they can do it. From cupcakes to whole cakes of different tiers and sizes. From corporate cakes to cakes for almost every occasions, and it's surprisingly affordable too!

After some communicating, we opted for his favourite chocolate flavour (less sweet) and some matching cupcakes. Here's what Emmanuel had for his birthday. He didn't know how the cake looks like before his birthday, so it was a pleasant surprise when he saw the cake, he was jumping up and down!

9D8N The BEST Switzerland Family Itinerary WITH CHILDREN

When my lady and I were planning this trip, to be honest, Switzerland never crossed our minds. We could not imagine lugging two kids up the Swiss alps, paired with the crazy expenses (which it is), but this trip was amazing. We had fun, the kids had fun.

We did our research through the sites, and now with ChatGPT planning itineraries even, booked our tickets and accommodations, packed our bags, and here we start our great Swiss adventures. Before I continue, here contains valuable tips that may help you navigate through your travels, but it's mainly intended for parents travelling with children - we brought our 7 and 3 year old along! If you're still reading, don't worry, you will survive the trip.

Trip Summary

From Singapore, we took a direct 12-hour red-eye flight to Switzerland, collected our rental car straight at the airport and headed to Bern. On our way to Lamoura (France), we stopped by Lausanne and explored Geneva. Next up, we visited the Alps, stationing ourselves at a mountain Airbnb at Embd near Visp, and headed to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. Took the car-tram passed the mountains to Interlaken, Lungern and Lucerne before stopping at Zurich before flying back. That's almost an entire round covered in one trip!

9D8N Switzerland Itinerary

Day 1: Singapore > Zurich > Bern

We took a 12-hour red-eye to Zurich with Swiss Air. Honest opinion, this airline is on par with SQ. They have 4 seats in middle section (for economy), the stewards explain to you personally what's on the food and wine menu, they even have a pantry cart in case you're hungry in the middle of the flight. Thank God, we including the kids rested almost 70% of the flight, which is a big win for us.

Pro tip: Get the SIM direct from airport (beside luggage collection). They have a lot of options. Since my telco Circle didn't have the Switzerland plans, and we are travelling to France for a couple of days, we got the EU unlimited data option which was around SGD$60 for 1 month.

We rented our car from SIXT. Ordered a BMW 2 series, but got "upgraded" for a CUPRA instead. FYI it's left-hand drive, meaning to say that driver sits on the left (opposite from Singapore). It always take me 20-30 mins to get used to, and some horning from the back. Trust me, Swiss drivers are impatient AF.

Pro tip: If you're driving cross borders, you need to get the relevant permits which you could check with the car rental. SIXT has one of the most affordable. Also, if you're planning to travel on highways, which you should be, please check that you have the motorway vignette (again SIXT provides, but do check with your car rental).

3D2N Seafront Villa Experience at Montigo Resorts Nongsa, Batam

Since everyone is going for a CNY trip, we decided to head to one as well. But since it's a last minute decision, when we checked the air tickets, we were quickly turned off by the marked-up pricing. We had considered Sentosa too, but the accommodation itself would cost more than $2000 for two nights at least. So we thought why not we travel by ferry instead to either Bintan or Batam? And after much consideration and research, we decided on Montigo Resorts Nongsa at Batam.

Since the check in was only at 3pm, we booked a 12.20pm ferry from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Nongsa Terminal. Thank God the 40-minute ferry ride was smooth. Once at Nongsa terminal, there is a complimentary shuttle for resort guests to the lobby (one trip is only approximately 10 minutes). Please note that Batam runs one hour behind Singapore timing!

Montigo Resorts Nongsa

Check-in is pretty seamless, and we got our room almost immediately without having to wait till 3pm. The resort area itself is HUGE, comprising of 4 restaurants, recreational area, private beach, wellness spas, and even a kids club. That's why they have 24/7 buggy services to fetch you anywhere you want to go within the resort. Just WhatsApp the dedicated lobby number and the buggy will arrive within 10 minutes.

Our room - Seafront Villa

We got upgraded from Hilltop to Seafront villa, so that's a huge yay, because we get wonderful sea views from our rooms! Psst, check their website for the latest and ongoing promotions, most of them offer free upgrades and even discounts on in-house dining and wellness treatments!

Princess Transformation at Hong Kong Disneyland’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Which girl doesn't dream about being a princess in her wonderland? As long as I can remember, Olivia has the craze from Ariel to Elsa, and this time round, she wanted to become Rapunzel. To be honest, she didn't even watch Disney's Tangled, so I am not entirely sure how she liked her.

Regardless, being the princess in the family, and since we are heading to Hong Kong for our family trip with the grandparents, and since we are going to Disneyland... and since there's this Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where they transform little girls (and boys too!) to a Disney character, I guess Olivia got her wish come true.

We stayed at the main Disneyland Hotel for two nights, and although there's the same boutique within the hotel, we decided to make an appointment for the one within Disneyland instead. It was drizzling the whole entire day (please imagine our dismay), so having somewhere to take shelter was a plus for us. 

The entire process takes about an hour and consists of the following:

1. Choosing a package

For girls, there are the Crown Package (HK$980) and Castle Package (HK$2380), the latter which includes a princess dress and accessories. For boys, they do have the Eric Package (HK$680) where they can dress up as Prince Eric or Peter Pan as well. Since it's her birthday, the grandparents decided to treat her to the Castle Package. Perks with going with grandparents! You can keep everything including the dress!

Here's a tip: If you're staying with any of the Disneyland hotels, you will get a HK$100 voucher to offset the packages. It will be given to you during check-in, and even if you didn't bring the physical voucher, they can check in the system.

2. Choosing a princess

Available options may change time to time, but as of date, these are the costumes (the last two technically not a princess but who cares):

• Cinderella
• Belle
• Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)
• Rapunzel
• Tinker Bell
• Minnie Mouse

And obviously, Olivia went with..

Elevate Your Sleep with Kapas Living

Here's a fun fact (which you probably knew) - we spend 1/3 of our life on our beds. Assuming we live to a ripe age of 90 years, that would be 30 years!

My lady and I love to sleep. Trust me when I say that one of the first few gifts for my then-girlfriend-now-wife was silk PJs. Moreover, after having two kids, you are sure to have constant sleep debt. That is why sleeping time is always important and with that limited amount of time to rest, you just got to find ways to elevate that experience. We came across Kapas Living and are blessed to got our hands on their products. 

Here's another fun fact - do you know that "kapas" actually means cotton? Now you know!

We absolutely love their TENCEL duvet set, and for a queen-size, includes bedsheets, duvet cover, and two pillow casing. And for the hot and humid climate of Singapore, TENCEL is one of the wisest choice you can make. I thought it was made of cloud. Yes, that soft and cooling! It's also OEKO-TEX® certified, which means you are sleeping on chemical-free material and is super suitable for sensitive skin! I can't imagine laying our heads on anything else other than this!

Of course, we got to get their alternate down pillows. Here's a trade secret, some companies stuff their pillow with both fine and coarse fibers to make the pillows feel fluffy. But Kapas Living only uses 0.9D - the finest fibers for this. And you know what? It's fully adjustable! Love a high pillow? Keep it as it is. Love a lower but no less fluffy pillow, take some of the fluff out through a side zip! How convenient! Remember to set your alarm, because you may just snooze off sleeping on this cloud!