I apologise for not posting anything in awhile but we have been a little busy…
We said our farewells to Laurens family and left Luton, UK on 24th December 2012. Our flights were for the 25th but we couldn’t leave Laurens family on Christmas Day! Although it was very sad saying goodbye to our family we were excited at the same time. Once we got to the hotel we felt like we were going on holidays – our first with Kyan!
Christmas Eve – Kyan’s first night in a hotel
We woke up in our hotel Christmas morning and Santa brought Kyan some presents – a Mr Tumble soft toy and Mr Tumble phone (toys we knew our fellow passengers would love! Haha). We had a huge breakfast and got ourselves ready to head to Heathrow for the big flight. 24 hours on a plane with a 16 month old. We didn’t know what to expect!
Toys from Santa Christmas morning
Our experience at Heathrow on Christmas Day was horrible. We had booked a bassinet for Kyan and asked for a baby meal. We tried to book our seats online but couldn’t with Laurens visa, so rang Singapore airlines like we were told, and they put a note next to our name. We checked in really early to be sure (3rd people in line!!) – and we got a bassinet for Kyan, but we weren’t sat together!!! We couldn’t believe it! We were so annoyed! We weren’t even sat behind each other!! One seat was with the bassinet and the other a row behind at the other end. Not very helpful on a 12 hour flight (we had seats together on the second flight) with a 16 month old with severe acid reflux! I explained all this to the lady but she said the flight was full and there was nothing they could do. She saw how stressed we were getting and said she would write down our concerns and pass onto the people at the gate?!?
We got through security fine and headed for the gate. Once we were there I explained our situation again (twice!) and still nothing was to be done. We couldn’t believe it. No-one cared or wanted to help us. They called families to board and we headed to the gate, Kyan asleep in his buggy. The lady stopped us and told us to move aside as we had to collapse the buggy before walking down to the plane (we were told different). So after pushing us aside to struggle with a sleeping baby, lots of baggage and a buggy that refused to collapse – she called the rest of the flight to board straight away! Didn’t even give us 5 minutes to get our stuff together!!
Once we got to our seats we tried to switch with a guy so we were at least behind each other – but he refused. Luckily the couple we were sat with were lovely and they switched with us so at least we were behind each other. Once we were settled it was ok. The cabin crew (Singapore Airlines) were fantastic. They really looked after us. Kyan’s baby meal never came (we weren’t surprised that was messed up from the UK side!) but he got an adult meal of lamb and mash so was happy with that! One of the male hostesses called through to Singapore to make sure he had a meal on the next flight, and then gave us left over baby food jars (unopened!) and nappies for the next flight ‘just in case’.
Kyan on a plane!
Kyan was fantastic and after socialising with the baby next to him – slept most of the 12 hour flight in his bassinet. What a great invention they were…
Once in Singapore we had an 8 hour stop over. We had booked into the hotel in the terminal. They book 6 hour blocks and I would strongly recommend this to anyone travelling that distance! We checked in, gave Kyan a bottle and all slept for about 5 hours. We then had showers and were all ready for our next flight. We had about an hour or so to kill so we had breakfast (Singapore food!), had a look at the fish pond, and wandered around the butterfly farm. Singapore airport has lots to do!!
In the Butterfly Farm at Singapore Airport
Singapore rice for breakfast!
Our next flight went pretty smoothly. We were ready this time! Buggy packed up, bags ready. The cabin crew on this flight were amazing too. Kyan got his post weaning meals – which he loved. He was more awake on this leg as it was our daytime – thank god for Mr Tumble on the Ipad!! And for long lasting battery power! But he also slept lots on the flight too. Yay for bassinets!
Where Kyan spent most of the journey!
Once we got to Sydney it was instantly hot. We got through customs fairly quickly (Lauren was allowed through the Aussie part as she belongs to an Aussie family!), collected our bags and were eagerly greeted by my family!! My mum and dad had only seen Kyan once when he was about 7 weeks old and my brother and sister were meeting him for the first time. He had plenty of smiles for everyone and loved all of the attention.
And so our new adventure begins… Life Down Under.