by iamcrabstix | Apr 11, 2017 | Reviews, Travel
If you love animals – Elephant Nature Park, elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand is an absolute must.
Ran by Lek Chailert – who has been named Asian Hero of the Year by Times Magazine, because of her amazing achievements and tenacity to educate on the hideous tourist trap of riding elephants. The park itself has an array of awards, including from the Smithsonian.
Elephant Nature Park is a must see – I love animals, the cruelty of riding elephants is all over Thailand, it is heartbreaking. This place gives those elephants a happy ending, rescuing them wherever possible and educating people on the sad reality that these animals are often left disabled because tourists ride on them and their spirits have been ‘broken’ in the cruellest ways to allow their owners to make money from them.
The elephants here live a happy life, it is amazing to watch them feed and play. I’m struggling to put it into words because they roam free, without a care in the world and if you’re lucky enough to see the amazing relationship Lek has with them, it will blow your mind. She is so small and these elephants put her under their trunks, play with her and can pick her out of a crowd, it is absolutely magical to see. It gets booked up so far in advance, so try and book before you get to Thailand. You can do day trips or stay longer and help them look after the elephants, dogs, buffalos and cats that all live there!
We will definitely be back to try and share our love of animals with RLT. Transport is arranged as part of the package and there is a booking office in Chiang Mai. As a bonus Lou Carpenter from Neighbours does the video intro on the bus!
I probably haven’t sold it to you, because seeing is everything with this one. Visit their website to see the amazing things they do, you can even sponsor an elephant if you have no plans to go to Thailand soon!
by iamcrabstix | Feb 15, 2017 | general parenting, Reviews
I don’t usually post a lot about food, I feel a bit inadequate as there are so many mums out there taking great pride in following baby-led weaning and coming up with great recipes, but that’s not me. I don’t enjoy cooking, but I enjoy good food and don’t have the patience or the organisational skills to wait hours for it!
This doesn’t mean that I will let my child eat just anything. As I have mentioned in a previous post (you can read it here) I am not a massive fan of gluten, as a household we don’t eat pork and I don’t eat halal meat (this is my personal preference based on my belief that the animals suffer unnecessary pain as they are not stunned). If my baby expresses the wish when he is old enough to eat any of these things, I will not object, that is completely his choice.
RLT started weaning at five and a half months old, in that time we have experimented with lots of tastes and textures – I made all of his stage one purees as I was confident with mushing veg, even my cooking skills extend to using the steamer/blender! But stage two was a totally different matter, so we went on to pouches and jars, which I mixed with purees for the first few weeks. He’s tried many but he isn’t a massive fan of any meat except chicken (I must have tried him five times with beef, but he isn’t convinced by the taste!) This made me think his tastes may be similar to mine! I could follow a vegetarian diet without even noticing.
So when I noticed a post by Naomi at Me Becoming Mum about Babease baby plan, I was intrigued and immediately went to their website to find out more. I found that they were stocked in Boots– brilliant! Boots is one of the few shops we have where I live! Sadly the baby range was so small it didn’t have them, so I ordered a few on their website to collect in store.
I tried the Chickpea, pumpkin, tomato & coconut cream with herbs and mild masala before I gave it to him – it tasted absolutely amazing. His dad agreed – I made him try it the next time I gave RLT a pouch! RLT is a fan of big flavours, thankfully for us, and you can see he is enjoying every mouthful of the Babease pouches – it’s a notable difference from when I’ve tried him with some of the jarred products, he’s just not interested – especially with anything with beef, potato or peas in!
RLT’s dad is very keen to ensure that he doesn’t become one of these kids who will only eat chicken nuggets and beans – so I showed him the pouches we had and he thought Babease baby plan was a very good way of getting the little one used to amazing tastes at a young age, with the added bonus that RLT would be used to herbs and spices early, so we wouldn’t need to worry about taking him on holiday with us anytime soon (he is keen to revisit Vietnam as soon as possible!).
The other flavours Butternut Squash, Quinoa & Beetroot with Onion & Sage, Broccoli, Parsnip, Green & Puy Lentils with Onion, Fennel, Tomato & Herbs, Brown Rice, Swede, Courgette & Kale with Onion, Garlic & Thyme are equally as lovely too. I don’t think I’d really had much food with fennel in, so I admit to having a few spoons full when I first gave him it rather than the little sample I usually have!
I’ve previously mentioned that I found getting Ella’s Kitchen products easier as they were easier to access, but the Boots which is close to my work stocks three of the Babease baby plan stage two pouches (sadly not the Sweet Potato, Tomato, Carrot & Quinoa with Chickpeas & Cumin, which we haven’t managed to try yet or the Chickpea, Pumpkin, Tomato & Coconut Cream with Herbs & Mild Masala) so this makes it quite easy to stock up. They were on 5 for 4 this week and I also had £28 worth of advantage card points thanks to buying a pushchair in Boots, so it makes sense all round to keep on buying – mum’s happy, dad’s happy and more importantly RLT is a massive, massive fan of the flavours!
On a totally unrelated note – as someone who appreciates good graphic design, these are the nicest packaging designs for baby food ever! Also with a lovely uncoated sleeve around the food!
by iamcrabstix | Dec 4, 2016 | Reviews, rlt, Travel
We chose Kielder as the destination for a winter break and the first holiday for RLT at aged five and a half months. Kielder Waterside is a development within Kielder Water and Forest and within the Leaplish Forest Park, which is also where the Winter Wonderland is based.
We opted to go for 4 nights Monday – Friday as my OH is starting a new job on 5th December, so he wanted some downtime before he started. We couldn’t quite fathom out formula, nappies and baggage allowances to travel abroad with a baby, so when my friend Nikki, mentioned that she was looking for a winter break in the UK and we should come along, we jumped at the chance.
We opted for the Otterstone Superior lodge which was lovely and incredibly homely. The added touch of the Christmas tree added to the atmosphere. The lodge was very well equipt and the bed, furniture and fixtures were all extremely high quality, we were extremely impressed.
RLT chilling by the Christmas tree in living area
The swimming pool was small but ample for our requirements, the changing rooms seemed to be brand new. The coffee shop and bar restaurant were all decorated to an extremely high standard too. The food was also very good and I didn’t feel over priced for the quality considering they had a captive audience. The draft ale was Wylam too, which is a very well respected brewery in the North East – little touches like that go a long way.
Kitchen of Otterstone Superior Lodge
The lodge had a hot tub, I’d never been in one! A man came every day to check the levels etc, it was extremely well maintained. He advised it had been drained and fresh water added for our visit – as you never know who and what has gone on in those things! I went in once for around 20 minutes, the lodges are pretty close together so if you’re thinking of a break with friends for hot tub parties, I don’t think this is the place for you. It’s more for families to enjoy, in my opinion.
The bath was also a jacuzzi one, basically, everything to do with water was an optimum experience, which is no surprise given that the lodges are owned and operated by Northumbrian Water, who own Kielder Reservoir. EVEN THE TAP WATER TASTED AMAZING.
We didn’t set out to do anything but go on a few walks and relax, so when we saw the Winter Wonderland stuff, we felt obligated to participate for the two-year-old that was with us, thankfully it was only a weekend thing so the park was pretty empty. Things seemed to close on 30th November, half way through our stay such as Kielder Castle etc, but we still managed to do the Stickman Trail and we were fairly laid back about what to see and do anyway, so we didn’t mind.
Winter Wonderland was closed but you could still access the lakeside way for walks, which was ideal with a baby.
Even out of season, this place is pretty great. We picked a good place to go on our first holiday with our baby. The lodge was like a home away from home. They even provided a high chair (which was brand new with the tags on) and a travel cot. We got it for a rate cheaper than advertised on the website due to the time of year, but at full cost and compared to what you’d pay at Centre Parcs, I’d 100% recommend this place for families to consider. We had a lovely time.
Things to look out for…. Northumbrian Water seem to use Hoseasons for their bookings… We were looking for a Hoseasons logo on site, so thought we’d taken a wrong turn. So if you see signs for Leaplish, just keep driving!
by iamcrabstix | Jan 14, 2016 | Reviews, Travel
My New York review -For personal reasons, back in August, we decided that we didn’t want to be at home for Christmas 2015 and as we were planning to try for a baby in the very near future, we thought we’d cease the opportunity to go away for Christmas as it may be our last chance for a while. So with some savings in the bank, we decided to have an almighty blowout and go to New York for 10 days over Christmas, coming back just before New Year.
We booked the entire thing through Expedia, having carefully watched the hotel prices not move much for a while we decided to go for it. The hotel and flights for 10 days flying Aer Lingus Newcastle – Dublin – New York cost just over £2000 for the both of us.
There weren’t any direct flights from Newcastle at that time of year, Emirates were running a summer one but sadly wasn’t available in winter. The Aer Lingus/Dublin connection ended up working really well for immigration purposes as they have an entire team of homeland security there, which means when you land at JFK you are classed as a domestic flight so no massive queues when you land – massive bonus! When I last flew to NYC from Edinburgh the security queue was 2 hours long! So this was great, especially as by the time our holiday came around, I was actually three months pregnant! So my bladder control wasn’t all there for a massive queue! I didn’t find the customer service and quality of Aer Lingus to be up there with KLM (by far my favourite airline) or British Airways (Emirates doesn’t make my faves as the Newcastle to Dubai flight is very similar to a Ryanair flight to Magaluf in my opinion, just awful experience from start to finish for me and spoiled my opinion of Emirates from other routes such as Dubai to Bangkok) but at the price you get what you pay for!
We picked a cab up at the airport to take us to our hotel in Manhattan, there had been an accident so the roads were gridlocked, thankfully our driver knew loads of shortcuts, so it didn’t take as long as it could have! JFK is actually in Queens, so the drive into Manhattan can be long – but it’s all good to see. You can also take the sky train and subway, which I have done before but to be honest, there were some quite terrifying characters on the train, so I was quite happy we hadn’t bothered with that this time around!
We opted for the Park Central Hotel for its location really. Just a short walk away from Central Park (as the name suggests!), Times Square, Broadway and Rockerfella Center, it was ideal. We weren’t looking for a massively swanky hotel (although this had a lovely bar area) as we didn’t intend on being in the room too much, so this was a great price for a great location. Down-side of the hotel was that only one lift worked and there were about 25 floors of rooms, so as you can imagine – the queues got quite big from time to time and being pregnant and in the peak of morning sickness (which due to the time difference was afternoon sickness) this wasn’t great!
So this would end up being quite a big blog posts if I took you through step-by-step everything we ate and saw everyday, so here is a list of recommendations.
- Fluffy’s for breakfast – didn’t break the bank and was delicious, small seating area or get to go – try a cannoli. Loved this being opposite our hotel.
- Churrascaria Plataforma Brazilian BBQ – we went here for Christmas lunch, it was heaving, the meat is so tender and lovely – my OH went in a food coma as he ate so much!
- Katz Deli – went here for my second time for a Reuben. Not as good the second time around but I think this was my three month pregnancy taste buds!
- One world observatory – they have done an amazing job on this, I had massive reservations on visiting, but they have done a fantastic job and the staff are fantastically helpful. The videos of how much doing a good job meant to the construction staff was lovely, I’m usually very cynical of things like that but it was heartfelt. The reveal of the view when you first get up there is tremendous.
- Century 21 – my OH never goes clothes shopping, my OH became a shopaholic thanks to this shop. Lots of designer bargains to be had if you compare prices to UK. Obviously, US brands such as Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Michael Kors are a lot cheaper anyway, but at Century 21 there were additional discounts added so even cheaper. They had Tom Ford and Chanel sunglasses- if you don’t mind not having a box the prices are massively different. As I was pregnant, I didn;t quite feel like going shopping so I picked up a few bras and underwear for my changing shape and a pair of Paul Smith sunglasses. OH bought too much to mention, he came back with about four coats that he had to wear on the plane!
- Central Park – Lovely walking around the park, especially on Christmas day. There is an ice rink, which is very touristy, but lots to see and do all over the park. It;s a marvellous contrast being in this big open green area with all of the skyscrapers surrounding.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art – If you have a spare day, it is easy to get lost in this place. It has the most amazing exhibitions and in my opinion, MOMA doesn’t touch it, this is THE art museum. Finally got to see my favourite painting, Madame Cezanne by Paul Cezanne. The fashion wing and the Egyptian art are also stand out areas for me.
- The curious incident of the dog in the night – if you get to see one Broadway play, make it this one. The staging and use of space is absolutely brilliant. Loved it from start to finish as did my OH who had not read the book, so had no expectations at all. If you don’t mind queuing for a bargain, check TKT booths to see what is on offer that day. It’s a great scheme ran by Theatre Development Fund.
- NFL – if you’re going to New York with a boy, chances are they will want to visit some kind of sporting event. Basketball, baseball and football are the most popular. Out of the three, I’d recommend the NFL experience. We went to see New York Giants v Carolina Panthers. It is in New Jersey, so you have various transport options – I don’t recommend getting the bus from ocean terminal, there are zero signs to help you get to the right bus and the man who sold the tickets to us was less than helpful actually downright rude (clearly hated tourists) and the queue for the buses after is a couple of hours! The parties in the car park are quite interesting to watch beforehand! But if I was going again, I’d probably get the train!
- Highline – it’s great to walk around on a night, but it does close so make sure you’ve got time to have a wander. Also no toilets so have a wee before you get up there!
Things that I wouldn’t recommend you do is a very small list:
- Don’t go on the designated ferry to statue of liberty and Ellis Island… it takes too long to queue for the ferries.. just take the Staten Island Ferry, you get to see as much as you need to and it is free (I’ve done it both ways, definitely prefer this one)
- Don’t feel the need to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge if you have a fear of bridges like me, it’s not worth it! People like to jog it and don’t like it if you get in their way!
