Friday, September 04, 2009

What a holiday!! Part I

We are back from a rather exhausting but highly satisfying holiday with En and Xuan (thousands of apologies to Rui Rui.. and we all miss you sooo much!!!).

I have always wondered about the Yangtze cruise and as we were debating on where to bring the boy (the Pandas in Chengdu, the Children's musuem in Shanghai etc etc), Husband eventually did the logistic planning for the cruise to the Three Gorges.
It as an eye opener for me personally, and now, I am a total cruise convert. I used to think cruises are boring etc.. but well, now I am convinced that the sights from the vessel and from the shore excursions are worth the "cooped up" feeling on board the vessel. It is a more than worthwhile trade off !

The boys enjoyed themselves lots and have been real troopers in terms of energy to walk and keeping up with the rather militant and rigorous cruise schedule. The only thing that stressed me out were over meal times, when they really gave us a hard time, making me wonder and worried over whether they are eating enough and getting enough nourishment etc etc.
But all in all, there are more happy times as seen from the ever cheeky Xuan and the occupied En.

Not a great start with flight delay to Yichang. think it is common for flights going into the various smaller cities to be delayed.

Waiting for papa to buy Burger King.. hungry - way past lunch time, We just realised Xuan has motion sickness as he has a tendency to puke in taxi rides.. so we dun feed him a lot prior to any car rides.


A long wait at the airport.. must be like 3-4 hours. Thankfully we are prepped with tools to entertain them.. En and his sketch pad and Xuan and his security bolster.

Arriving in Yichang late at night.. and only manage to get a view of the ship the next daylight.. President 1 is indeed luxurious in terms of amenities and aesthetics. The only drawback is the militant schedule to be followed.. with intrusive music blasted daily at 6:30 without fail as wake up call..

Car ride to the Vessel - the 2 boys patiently waiting..


President 1

We were definitely impressed by the room, and its decent size balcony. It is just enough to laze in the room as we watch the magnificent sights sail past the windows.. When Xuan first got into the room, he said "I like this room". Subsequently, everyday we will hear him say "I like this room". :) He really looked like he enjoyed himself lazing around the various pars of the vessel.

The sights were spectacular, and I must say, the camera does not capture them well. I was often in awe of the sights that greeted us as we sail by, or when we were out on the shore excursion. Well, I have seen those videos and postcards of the Gorges, and they always seem a tad "Ching Chiong" to me. However, when one is there looking at it through our own eyes, it was breathtaking. It was how I felt on the Great Wall as well, that no camera nor video and do them justice.

Despite a rainy start when we visited the Dam project, the sky cleared up for the subsequent days and I simply love the blue clear sky with fluffy clouds contrasting with the grand greenery.


The boys really enjoyed the room. Either by the balcony, or "swimming in the swimming pool" or simply fooling around in their respective dates.

This photo collage is courtesy of Bao En, I did not realised he took a series of photos of all our shoes lying around - it definitely has a holiday feel to it.

The kiddies enjoying themselves during the rest times. They were the youngest kids on board the cruise, not a lot of kids to begin with, only 4 in all including them. The crew were exceptionally nice to them, asking for photos with them and highly accommodating to our requests. One of the staff actually bought us mini buns when he had time to go on shore to shop while we were on our shore excursion, as he was worried that the food served/ the timing of the meals were not suitable for them. Special touches such as passing us umbrellas to shield the kids when we visited the Dam in the rainy morning really impressed me. While the cruise is not totally catered to the kids (limited high chair, no kid utensils etc), the staff really made a
difference y going out of their way to help us settle the kids comfortably.


Day 1: A rainy morning to learn about the Dam Project but thankfully Papa checked the weather report and knew about the likely rain and packed the boys' raincoats!


The boys are more impressed with the toy in the basin than looking at the Dam. :)

Misty view of the dam. The theory part of understanding the dam did little for me. However, when we were back onto the cruise ship later that afternoon and we saw how the vessels were elevated in the various chambers, I was impressed by the mechanics of it.


Vessel going through the various chambers of the ship elevator.


Bao En - the emerging Photographer. He takes really decent photos for us.
Then a fellow tourist from the cruise offered to take a pic of all of us..


To be continued...


2 comments:

stardust said...

Hey, a well-deserved holiday for you!

My hubby and I enjoy cruises too - for the buffet food and more relaxed itinerary, is easier to bring our little children around

Though Vince is more distracted outside and I have to resort to spoonfeeding him more food. How about your boys?

Baby En said...

Hey congrats on Baby again.. I am excited to know the gender!

Meal times are always a struglle when we are out of the home. And in China, the meals are not free and easy, there is a specific time to eat and its like a banquet. Some dishes are not kid friendly, so it is a struggle..

We feed them more bread and milk, and be happy with whatever they eat :)

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