Boston

Publishing another draft I found 5 years later...

We made two trips to Boston as a family in 2019. In the spring, while choosing a skiing destination, we decided we wanted to try the east coast of the US. So far, we've only skied at Whistler in the Americas. The travel from east to west coast eats into the little time we have over spring break. So we decided on Okemo for the ease of travel - direct flight to Boston. I've only made a short trip to Boston before and was eager to check it out again.

In the spring, we stayed at the Boston Seaport Hotel on arrival. The kids enjoyed this a lot - they had a nice fireplace in the lobby and an indoor pool. Hubby liked the gym next to the pool. The location was very central and we soon regretted renting a car for the city portion of our trip. So not to struggle with parking, we took Uber most places. Hubby and I had a tasty dinner at the on site TAMO Bistro. The hotel had a Starbucks and a Dunkin' Donuts close by, among other restaurants, where we sourced breakfasts. I think Boy's favorite thing about Boston is the DD on every corner - he was in heaven.

We checked out the Harvard campus, out of curiosity. Enjoyed a nice lunch at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. Ramen is another one of Boy's favorites. Threw snowballs at Boston Commons - Hubby and kids acted like they've never seen snow before. They also skated in the rink, which was quite crowded. Dinner at the Quincy Market - lobster rolls and live music. We had to drag the kids to the Museum of Science (they are allergic to museums), but once there, we all enjoyed the the myriad exhibits and the IMAX film. Also had dim sum at China Pearl. Also tried our first Amorino location - gelato is pretty good and the presentation can't be beat. Great to walk the different Boston neighborhoods.

Boston Common

Chinatown

Museum of Science

Onward to Okemo, about a 3 hour drive, where we enjoyed three days of skiing. It is a smaller resort but big enough for us. We stayed in the Mountain Lodge, which is condo-like. Everything was very convenient - restaurants, ski rental, laundry and pool. With a car, we could also get groceries to make some meals in the kitchen and try restaurants off site. Fond memories are the Waffle Cabin, the Mountain Coaster and heated lifts!

We enjoyed the experience so much that we made another trip in the winter with extended family. Repeated much of the above activities. We stayed at the Westin this time around, and realized that it's not too bad to walk from the seafront to many attractions. We did also use the subway this time around, leaving the car rental only for when we headed to Okemo. Sis had Taiyaki, and we tried Hong Kong Eatery and Ruckus. We rented a lake house in Mount Holly via Airbnb this time to accommodate the bigger group. It was a little painful to deal with all the ski equipment transport, the lugging from Okemo guest parking. We had 3 new skiers taking lessons. It was good fun and we hope to have another family ski vacation.

Boston Common again

Definitely Boston again.

Parenting

Taking a work break after finishing a contract...finding time to post again and found a couple of drafts from 2020 :o). Concerns have stayed the same, mostly, except Boy's politics have mellowed some...

I'm often still surprised at how similar and different Hubby and I are, at the same time. He's from Finland, I'm from Singapore. He's both extrovert (enjoys social events) and introvert (enjoys his own company), whereas I tend to introvert. He's had a pretty independent childhood, but mine was more supervised. When it comes to parenting, we've had to compromise on many things. Last weekend, Hubby left for a summer visit to Finland alone, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. This is a first in many years, and I've had some time to experience what it's like to parent alone - not an easy task. Our normal routine of good cop bad cop is missing a vital participant.

Hubby grew up with a brother ten years younger, so he witnessed some parenting up close. I have younger siblings but can't really say that I'm comfortable around kids. My approach to parenting was one of misplaced confidence - if so many other women can do this, I can too. Hubby was perhaps more realistic about the challenges. We were in our early thirties when Boy arrived and I was flummoxed by the little bundle of energy that flouted my best efforts to contain and channel. It took me two years to see eye to eye with Hubby on having a second one. But when Girl arrived, her calmer personality allowed me to see that, well...sometimes it's just personality.

I grew up with the threat of corporal punishment. It's just part of the culture - even school policy for certain offenses. My parents were measured in the application but spanking is illegal in Finland. So we first had to agree to no spanking (although I do sneak in a slap on the bottom for emphasis). My mom predicted that our children would "climb on your head and poop on it". We found out from Girl, after we left Singapore, that her kindergarten teacher had spanked her for crying during a phase when she cried at drop off. Had Hubby found out sooner, the teacher would have had a talking to.

Another area of compromise - academics. Singapore and Finland both have top rated education systems, but the approaches are different. Hubby didn't have much homework or testing but I did. I am of the opinion that if you put in the work, you will do fine. Emphasis on work - it's not like the system, especially the American one, sets you up to fail. Having lived in the west since my teens, I now see that it's not really about what you learn or how you score on testing but how you apply it. So rather than nag about grades, we nag about effort.

Boy takes after Hubby when it comes to athleticism, but he's mostly mini-me. Opinionated, stubborn, emotional. Our similar personalities cause us to clash often, with him often rebutting me in the exact way I would, making it more infuriating. Hubby plays the role of mediator in these confrontations, reminding me to be the grown up. Girl usually just ups and hides when these crop up, and in this past week, without the mediator, they did a lot. We argue about whether he should get a haircut, be online so much, what he should eat, if he should exercise. He's a conservative (how did that happen?) and feels that Trump is not getting a fair shake from media (um...depends on what you watch, right?). His lack of empathy allows him to question why racism and feminism are such a big deal when heart disease kills more people. He's already an atheist (thanks, Hubby), but has a habit of invoking God's name when frustrated or elated. He's intelligent but eschews hard work, preferring to wing it, whether at sports or school. Fun is at the top of his priorities. Anything else is "cringe" or boring. We implore him to be open-minded, see the other side, but my delivery of "why don't you..." needs work.

Girl, for the time being, is more mini-Hubby - calm, contemplative. We are more able to reason with her. In the end, what we're trying to do is prepare them for the world. To know themselves, see value in others, spot opportunities and threats. These skills will help them adapt and thrive. Because while they are our special snowflakes, they will not be that to others, at least not without some hard work.

Favorite Downtown St Petersburg Activities

We have frequent outings to downtown St Petersburg in Florida. It feels like a hip little part of the city. Restaurants with sidewalk seating, often with performers adding to the atmosphere, makes for a fun day out. It is relaxing to stroll in the pretty parks by the water, and there are often events that add to the already long list of attractions. One of our favorite things to do is to browse the Saturday Morning Market that run October to May. There's live music, food vendors, all sorts of things to explore. The only challenge is finding a parking space on the weekends, especially on Saturdays during the market months.

Straub Park decked out for the winter holidays

Restaurants

We'll start with the food, of course. One of our favorite places is Ceviche, a tapas restaurant. They have a good variety of tapas, with a nice patio. They used to do a superb cava sangria, but while it's still pretty good, it's somehow not as yummy.

Another place we go to often is Bento. The bowls and boba are delicious, but somehow this location is not as nice as the ones in Gainesville or Orlando. Mainly because they don't have the Szechuan noodle soup.

We have also tried Hawkers Asian Street Fare, but being from Singapore, my hawker food expectation is very high. It's still a nice spot with outdoor seating, so we may go again.

There are lots of other places to try, but as creatures of habit, we seem to always gravitate to the usual. However, I don't think we have ever missed going to Paciugo for gelato on any trip. Who can resist the visual feast of colors? The kids enjoy odd flavors like violet, but the adults go with affogatos (Hubby likes the dark chocolate flavors and I never miss the Bacio).

Affogato - espresso & gelato

Attractions

The crown jewel of downtown St Pete is probably the Dali Museum. Just the sight of the building itself is impressive. It's not a large place, but usually has interesting temporary exhibits on top of the permanent one.

Inside the Dali

The Museum of Fine Arts is also very fine :o), with small collections of art from around the world. There is a beautiful, large kapok tree next to it that children (and adults) like to climb.

The James Museum is minimalistic and serene. The entry hall itself calls you to contemplation.

The Morean Arts Center with the Chihuly Collection is a trip into the surreal.

Inside the Chihuly

There are quite a few other museums to check out for our future trips.

Kayaking at Weeki Wachi

It's hard to find things to do these days, but for Father's Day, we lucked into some kayaking spots at Weeki Wachee. We've been to the park before and enjoyed the springs (we do enjoy tubing in a few of the Florida springs), but were not sure if we could properly social distance at the park itself for now. The last time we visited, it was quite busy. The entrance fees were quite reasonable for something akin to a small water park. The kids tubed on the small section of the springs and saw manatees. I still plan on taking in the mermaid show one day - it rained just at the start of our last visit so we had to give it a miss.

Anyway, just note that when booking the kayaks, the site will display only the availability at that moment. Don't try, like we did, to book the same slot from different devices - book for the group at the same time. The booking also had us arrive 30 minutes ahead of our 8am slot, but that was when they opened and we were only allowed in about 5 minutes ahead. There is the larger parking lot but you can drive into the kayak area parking lot. Also the kayak area seems to only have port-a-potties, not proper toilets.

It was a rather efficient operation - checking in, getting life vests, going to the springs to hop in the kayak. It was really pretty and relaxing in the beginning of the run. As we got closer to the end, there were more residences by the springs, so a lot more happening. People were out on boats, playing music from backyards, just having a good time. We did not see any manatees like I wanted. It being our first time, we also had trouble figuring out the end point to return the kayaks - there was no sign. The route was to stay left and the end point would be to the left of a bridge. We actually finished in good time - we were told that the first to finish is usually at 10:30 but we were done about 10:20. Next time we'll have to take it a little slower - it's a 4 hour rental after all. We beached and swam a bit along the way, but you are told to stay with the kayak at all times.

Our return shuttle to the car was on a school bus, which was pretty cool. Daddy enjoyed his treat!

Ranger - North Georgia

With our summer trip to Finland cancelled due to COVID-19, we decided to take the family to North Georgia to stay at a cabin. We found a cabin managed by Vacasa through AirBnB, in the Talking Rock Creek Resort, for our group of eight. The resort seems to be a large area, with several gated entries. Google Maps took us to one on which the gate code we were given did not work. Someone who came behind us kindly let us use their code to get in. We found later that the gate code worked at the entrance where the community pool was. We did not have maps to the area but relied on the directions from kind strangers.

We got to the cabin and the cleaner was just finishing up. It had a really nice view but the cabin was a little dilapidated. The original listing had a hot tub - we did not find one and the listing was subsequently updated. Some of the furniture was quite worn - the sleeper sofa in the loft had a plank box in place of the sleeper, one of the hammocks on the patio was torn. Other than that, the place was adequate. They even prepped a campfire over which the kids enjoyed smores. Biggest problem is the mosquitoes and the repellent we had did not help much. The wifi was also spotty.

View from cabin

The highlight of the area is still the outdoors though. We found the Trout Lodge on Google maps. The lodge itself was not open but we walked down to the creek behind it and the children had a blast swimming, finding fish, tadpoles and rocks. There were pretty butterflies. No one else there but us. The gym at the pool was not open but there was a trail with some exercise equipment across the street. We read that you might find bears but fortunately, we did not.

Trout Lodge & Park

There were some pretty butterflies at the creek

We thought we brought plenty of food but still had to supplement. There are a couple small convenience store/gas station in the area. In the end we had to drive thirty minutes to nearby Jasper's Walmart for supplies - the mountain air increases your appetite? On the way, you could see some family farms which could be interesting to visit. Apparently there are apple orchards nearby for u-pick in the fall. Going to Georgia for the fall colors is still on my bucket list...

Chateau Elan, Atlanta

So it's been a few years since the last post. To catch up, we couldn't place Girl in local school in Singapore, had our permanent residence application denied, so started our journey back to the US. We tried a stint in Gainesville, FL and then settled in the Tampa Bay area.
This week we celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary at Chateau Elan. We make fairly frequent trips to Atlanta to visit family. For the first time, we left the kids with family to go stay at a hotel all by ourselves. We were looking for a spa hotel and decided on this one for its location and amenities, making reservations for our stay, spa visit and restaurant meals couple weeks in advance.
We booked a package for two nights which came with a bottle of wine and some resort credit. The place is big - hotel, winery, golf course, restaurants, spa, conference space, walking trails. Driving up, you do get a feel of arriving at a Disney-fied French chateau. The property is pretty - but perhaps like a Marriott with French touches?
It was our first hotel stay since the start of the COVID-19 and it was odd to see everyone in masks. There were temperature-taking machines and self-cleaning handles, elevator buttons (wonder how these work). Resort fee was $42/day and on top of that, $16/day parking fee. For a place advertising luxury experience, the service does not match the price.
The biggest problem with our stay was that it we were put in an adjoining room. We could hear everything through the door. The first night, our next-door neighbors had the tv on till 3am. We called the front desk to ask for support, then Hubby knocked on the door, but no joy. When we talked to the front desk the next day, they apologized and stated the occupants had checked out and they would not put anyone else there that night. A promise they did not keep. Hubby talked to the new neighbors who said they would not be up late but it was still 1am before things quieted down, and 6am when they were up and about again. The room itself was quite nice - we had a separate bathtub and shower.
The pool area was quite nice, but could've done with a couple of showers for people entering and exiting the pool. There was a pool bar with food options. The atrium was also very pretty and they offered afternoon tea reservations. We wanted to dine at the golf course restaurant and the front desk informed that we would have to drive over to there. We arrived to find out the kitchen was not open for the week. This should be something the front desk is aware of. Drove back and dined at the Louis' House of Bourbon instead. I had a meat and cheese plate and Hubby a burger. Both were ok - the place is more of a bar, with loud music.
We had a hard time finding things as there did not seem to be enough signs for such a huge place. The spa was nice but whirlpool and saunas were closed. Spa prices were cheaper on weekdays. We had a couples massage - it was nice to be offered refreshments at check-in but the robes provided seemed a little worn. We made a lunch reservation at the Fleur-de-Lis restaurant which overlooked the garden. Brunch was very nice and as we noted on the reservation that we were celebrating our anniversary, they treated us to some macaroons. Note there are also spa rooms for overnight stays, but they are pricier than the inn rooms.
We found out at check-in that we had to make a reservation to use the gym. Same-day reservations did not seem available. It had a nice enough equipment selection. We were surprised to learn that a wine tasting was included with our stay. It was a seven sample flight and the winery area was very scenic. They also had wine tasting sessions (and tours) for purchase. The wines tended to sweet though. We found out that our free wine bottle was to be from a limited selection, something that they really should indicate in advance.
We had dinner at Marc, in the winery, for which we also had to make a reservation. It didn't seem to matter as the hostess still asked if we were celebrating something, even if we indicated so on the reservation. I was hoping to be seated in the patio, but when we were not, I made the request to which the hostess replied that it was not possible since the patio is very popular. So again, why reservations? Hubby had deep fried brussel sprouts as a starter - a big portion and the accompanying honey sriracha sauce had me eating it too. My onion soup seemed to be a mushroom soup in disguise. Mains were mahi mahi and sea scallops (3), pretty good. Broccolini and potatoes for sides. We got a chocolate cake for free - yum.

The verdict -
*Ask for a non-adjoining room if you don't need it
*Ask for a nice table as part of the reservation

More fun with kids in Singapore

We decided to check out the National Museum in April 2014 for the People's Collection. There was a minimal admission fee for the adults - the kids did not have to pay. It was a neat little exhibit with old documents and trinkets. There seems to be interesting exhibits going on all the time - nice hangout for a rainy day. Had lunch at the onsite Food for Thought, which was nice too.

Museum exterior

 Another nice excursion was the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (free!) in Chinatown. It was a different experience for the kids, walking among all the religious icons. The kids had a hard time behaving in the sombre main hall. Girl managed to pop her balloon near the exit, which gave everyone quite a start in the quiet. Yes, we had balloons from some advertising vendor on the way to the Museum. We tried to be discreet with them, even tried to leave them somewhere but were told that they could bring them along. The attendants were really kind though - they gave her some candy as she was sad at the loss of the balloon. The relic chamber was quite splendidly golden. Our favorite part was the rooftop garden. It was tranquil, but the kids could also be a little less restrained. There was also a large prayer wheel, which they found fascinating. Afterwards, we watched some line dancing in the square outside, and had dinner at nearby Chinatown Food Street.

Temple exterior

Rooftop garden