Copenhagen TRAVELLING TO COPENHAGEN 20 June 2013

Not to mince my words, but… I don’t think I’d be happy to go on holiday with the kids if we’re not flying via business class! I know that sounds suuuuuper snobby, but man, if you’ve ever flown with one or more babies, and flown both Economy and Business (to be able to compare the different), you’ll know exactly what I mean. That flat bed? An absolute LIFE SAVER. The more attentive service? Totally appreciated. The extra space and fewer passengers nearby? Such a relief! Hunter, to his delight, was booked into his very own seat. Come to think of it, I don’t actually think my parents have ever paid for a business class trip on any of our family holidays when I was little! We only did so cos of Dad’s company. But somehow, they decided their grandkids needed the comfort and it was the best decision ever. I was actually pretty surprised that Hunter enjoyed sitting in his own seat, so much so that he happily stayed put in there for about 45mins before the plane took off. That’s pretty stellar for a two year old! He stayed in it for the entire plane trip, actually. Which was over 12 hours. A HUGE difference to when we travelled Economy and he spent half the time tearing up and down the aisles, fidgeting and driving everyone insane.

So pleased with his own flat bed seat

Business class food? Well, I pretty much didn’t eat any during this trip ๐Ÿ˜‰ I was frantically trying to get both kids to sleep at the start, when all the food was being served. So all I got was my drink, and that was it!! Missed out on THE ENTIRE MEAL ๐Ÿ™ They saved it for me and said they would serve it to me later, but frankly, after the effort of putting the kids to sleep, all I wanted to do was sleep as well.

Sat in business class, and all I got was a drink :X

Hunter fared pretty well in the food stakes. He got this big lunchbox packed full of goodies. Obviously we took away his chips/chocolates/cakes/cookies (who puts this crap in a kids meal anyway?!?! Hello fast track to obesity land), but he ate the ‘proper’ food well.

Hunter appraising his lunch box

I did manage to sneak inย breakfast, which was the very last meal when we arrived. It wasn’t that exciting to be honest. Though, their latte was top notch!!!

Breakfast on the plane

So the kids were aย royal painย to put to sleep. They would’ve probably been wonderfully behaved if I’d let them stay up, but since I was forcing them to sleep, there was lots of crying and resisting until they finally gave up and knocked out. I did discover a secret though – lie Hunter down flat, pull the blanket up over him, put his headphones on, and turn on a movie (at low volume). He lies there quietly watching, then simply drifts off. WIN!!

Hunter in his own seat, and poor Carter stuffed into a tiny cot. Life’s not fair!

When they were awake, they were kept amused with the flight attendants. Perhaps not many babies fly in business class, because they were all over Carter! Not so much Hunter, because he ignored them in favour of watching a movie. But Carter, Carter was so joyous with all this female attention and MILKED IT FOR ALL IT WAS WORTH.

Hi ladies! Look but no touchies ok? I have separation anxiety.

 

One of his trademark looks – this squishy chinaman smile!

 

Hullo Copenhagen!

And then……. we were inย Copenhagen! Man, there aren’t many Asian people around here. It’s predominantly really tall blond people, to be honest. So I feel like we realllyyyy stick out! The city is soย baby friendlyย and the people are lovely here. Loving it here already ๐Ÿ™‚ This flight was such a far cry to when I used to travel business class on work trips. I didn’t get a chance to watch a gazillion movies until my eyeballs hurt (though granted I managed to squeeze in one!). I didn’t get to eat my meal at a leisurely pace.. or simply even get to eat it. I didn’t get to do special requests for additional meals. I didn’t get to ask for more drinks, or even get a sip of alcohol. Most of all, I didn’t get to lie down flat and relax and sleep. That said, it’s insane how different travelling business vs economy is when you have kids with you!! And frankly, I don’t think Hunter will be very happy if he goes back to economy and can’t lie down flat to sleep. Guess no more holidays in the near future for us ๐Ÿ˜‰ ย  (PS. this blog post sounds a little disjointed and I’m posting it without bothering to proof read or even preview. Sorry. I’m severely lacking in the sleep department after having zero sleep on the plane, and our first night in Copenhagen wasn’t great since both kids were ready to party at 5:30AM this morning, thanks to jetlag. This is our second night here and it’s 11PM now, so I better head off to bed since I’ll probably have to wake up in a couple of hours anyway!!)

Letโ€™s Chat!




Let's Chat!

How is the shopping over there? hehe
I hear Scandinavian fashion is quite simple, minimalist and streamlined. Are you going anywhere else in Scandinavia?

The shopping is AWESOME haha. Esp since almost every brand is on 30-50% off cos of the big sales on!

Will likely be going to Sweden too ๐Ÿ™‚

aww I’m already missing Mr Charming Carter! hahah can’t wait to see you guys when you’re back man.

He’s degenerated into the depths of separation anxiety though! Hunter never had it but Carter is super nervous now.. arghhh

oh no ๐Ÿ™ let’s hope being back to singapore will help. and definitely hoping the haze is gone by the time you’re back! if not the bubs will have to stay at home

I normally enjoy reading your blog, but your comment about there being too many “tall, blond people” in Copenhagen rubs me the wrong way.

You’re married to a White guy, your kids are half-white and somehow you’re uncomfortable. How would you feel if Chris were to say that there are too many “short, dark-haired” people in Singapore?

I’m just not one to mince words on my own blog, I guess!

But the long and short of it is, when you are surrounded by really good-looking people, it’s hard not to feel awkward (and in my case, like a frumpy mum). And yes, it’s WAY different here than when I lived in Australia..

Being married to a white guy is kind of a random tangent and nothing to do with it, because I don’t compare my looks to Chris at all, seeing as he’s not female ๐Ÿ˜‰ I also don’t really notice that he’s “white”, he’s just Chris to me.

It’s just an observation that Beverley made as most people in Denmark actually are tall & blonde… Oops, now I’ve said it too.. So does that mean I am uncomfortable around white people also?

hope you enjoy copenhagen! this is one of the nicest times of year to visit!

i’ve been a few times and liked:
– royal cafe http://www.theroyalcafe.dk. it’s right off stroget hidden bwtn georg jensen and something else. it’s a funky, charming cafe with good food.
– i adored the Illums Bolighus department store. it’s mostly nice designer home stuff (drool) but they have a nice collection of jewelry too. it’s near the center of stroget.
– la glace. delicious pastries. also off stroget. http://www.laglace.dk/en/index.php/visit-la-glace/addressmap
– there are a lot of hot dog vendors. it was really tasty but you have to get it fully loaded!
– and you can’t go to denmark w/o stopping at a lego store! (legoland is too far…)

Oo THANK YOU for the recs irene!! I def want to try out Royal cafe and La Glace. WE were actually at Ilums yesterday and I went a bit mad in the kids department ๐Ÿ˜‰

Thanks for the tip about hot dogs, gotta try out ๐Ÿ˜›

Is the Lego store around stroget too? I hear it’s around the city?

We went to La Glace today! Didn’t realise we had to take ticket numbers though and so waited for ages before being told we needed to – doh. Didn’t fancy queuing all over again so we gave up!

Royal cafe is SO CUTE and we sat down and everything, but when we ordered, they said they were only serving drinks and not food, so we had to leave (as we were planning to have dinner). Bummer!!

We went to Lego today and Hunter had a total blast ๐Ÿ˜€

oh no! i forgot about the hours at royal cafe. i feel like europe has quite strange hours. i’m used to the convenience of asia and america. i hope you get to go back there some time (it’s in middle of all of the shops!! the boutiques i remember were northeast of that area).

i also just remembered this smorrebrod (sandwich) shop that was very yummy. you need reservations.
http://www.restaurantschonnemann.dk/

also, i thought of this blog post from another popular new york city blogger that you may find interesting, as a mother:
http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2011/09/motherhood-mondays-prams-in-denmark.html