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Using Public Transportation in Taiwan with a Toddler

Dec 26 2014

Home for the Holidays: 26 Hours to Taiwan with a Toddler Part 2 – EVA Royal Laurel Class Review

Saw this plane on the way to the gate. Wanted to switch flights so badly!

Here is Part 2 of our epic 26+ hours of travel to Taipei. You can find Part 1 here.

EVA Air Royal Laurel Class to Taipei

As I mentioned in the introduction, EVA straight up trolled us by throwing Hello Kitty in our faces as soon as we got onboard. Like, ha ha, Hello Kitty could be all up on this plane but she’s not so you just gotta watch her on TV!

I think EVA Air Royal Laurel might be the best longhaul business class product I’ve experienced. Everyone raves about the Rimowa amenity kits, which are nice, but I’m all about the pajamas. They are quite soft and comfortable and I got a size too small so they are very form fitting and flattering. They gave me two pairs, one for M, but they don’t fit her so more for me. Picture omitted due to over form fittingness :).

Unfortunately did not get a lot of pictures of the seat due to a crazy child (pictured here)

The service on the flight was excellent. The flight attendants were super accommodating, there seemed to be an army of them, and they were very attentive/helpful. Obviously it helped that the cabin was only 60% full but I think they were working their tails off regardless. The seat was also great, everything “made sense”, from the seat controls, to the storage comforts, and to the bed itself, which was very comfortable.

They had no problem accommodating our request to eat separately – M and I ate first (with Jess assisting the former) and Jess ate second. I would swing by the galley whenever I needed something but they seemed to always know what I wanted before I even asked. Cold milk? Check. More champagne? Check. Instant noodles? CHECK.

Instant noodles. Turnip cake not pictured.

There were also some peculiar things that piqued my interest. Like someone was hanging out in the galley wearing pajamas. Was she a flight attendant who had something spilled on her? Flight attendant just a passenger on the flight? Random buddy? OK, I guess that was the only thing that was curious to me. But I will never solve this mystery!

The champagne was excellent (Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame 2004)

I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the food in Royal Laurel Class (well, complaints is too strong a word but lack of enthusiasm). I didn’t really have any issues with it. Though I’d have loved to drink some Dom, the Veuve was a worthy alternative. The food was simple but I thought it was tasty and it definitely was satisfying.

The duck breast appetizer was my favorite part of the meal

The midnight snack was great and they had seaweed flavored potato chips. Honestly my only complaint was that I could have used some chocolate sauce with the ice cream. Oh, and Jess would like to add that that milk tea was good and the porridge for breakfast was great. I slept through breakfast.

Everyone who has read my reports before know in-flight entertainment is big for me, but unfortunately I barely got to watch anything on the personal screens (more on that later). I did watch a HK Cinema rom-com which had a terrible ending. One of those, “that’s it?” kind of endings. I mean my goal was to brush up on my Cantonese, so I guess I accomplished that a little bit. “分手100次” is the title if anyone’s interested. But maybe just skip it…

EVA Royal Laurel Class Toddler-centric Review

Obviously I would have been a lot more comfortable and relaxed if I didn’t have a toddler climbing over me the entire flight. But EVA’s Royal Laurel Class helped make what would have been an unbearable flight into a decent one for M. I mean, she had a great time, so I guess I really mean for us.

We ordered M a children’s meal (which covered both dinner and breakfast). Both were way too much food for a toddler (maybe too much for any pre-adolescent), but it was good to have that alternative. Can’t really go wrong with spaghetti though it was a little too salty. Jess said breakfast was eggs with mashed potatoes WHAT? Wish I had been awake for that.

Semi-eaten children's meal, forgot to take picture before. — Semi-eaten children’s meal, forgot to take picture before.

We survived the flight by taking turns. I ate dinner first while Jess fed M the children’s meal, then I took over and put M to bed while Jess ate. Putting her to bed was a bit of a mess. I had been letting her sleep on top of my chest more (for naps and stuff) in anticipation of this very flight, so I started things off by rocking her to sleep and lying down with her asleep on top of me.

At this point I thought I was golden – she could sleep, I could sleep, everybody happy. Alas, the best laid plans…about fifteen minutes later she woke up and basically kicked me out of the bed (which was really comfortable btw! Forgot to mention that before). I sat on the side of the seat with my legs half hanging out in the aisle for a little while.

I then realized that I could kind of sit at the head of the bed since she’s so short. It wasn’t great but at least it was a semi-natural position to sleep in. So I just sat there as she rested and watched The Fellowship of the Ring on my tablet (thanks Google Play for the free movie!). At some point, I even managed to fall asleep resting my head on my knees.

After some unspecified amount of time (lost track of time really quickly on that flight), I tried to readjust my position – this led to the inevitable toddler wake up screaming while still sleeping situation. Yikes. I think we managed to keep this under five minutes although who knows it could have been eighteen hours like in Contact.

At this point, Jess took her and calmed her down and put her back down on her seat. I took this time to finish aforementioned terrible ending HK rom-com, after which Jess and I switched spots so she could get some sleep. I managed to get a seatbelt on M so at that point I started rotating back and forth between sitting next to her and sitting in one of the empty seats in the cabin. I managed to finish Gravity on my tablet (Google Play free again), but started getting pretty tired.

The difference between a lie-flat bed and laying a toddler down in coach is you still have somewhere to sit, sorta

M eventually woke up with about 3 hours to go in the flight (which ended up being almost 4 due to a landing delay). At this point I finally got to use the lie-flat bed for real and I had two very nice hours of sleep. This sleep was punctuated with faint recollections of a toddler peering over the center console wearing headphones and singing, though I can’t be too sure of that.

Anyway, I was on M duty the last hour of the flight and at that point I was so tired that I finally caved. M isn’t allowed to watch any TV at home besides football (both American and World versions), but I just gave up on life and flipped on one of the fifty Hello Kitty movies they had on IFE.

Of course these videos were in Japanese with Chinese subtitles so I didn’t bother giving M the headphones, instead I read the subtitles as fast as I could and just made up a story on the fly. I do now know that Hello Kitty does not like eating vegetables, if only I could figure out how her parents magically convinced her to start eating them!

Hello Kitty, the best distraction of all

Oh, and as I had mentioned in the introduction, EVA also provides diapers on request. The medium diapers we asked for were size 4 Huggies (5 diapers). The diapers kind of backfired a little because Mickey Mouse was on them and even though she has never heard of him M is now constantly asking for “little mouse” diapers. Luckily she is not above falling for the old bait and switch!

"Little mouse" diapers — “Little mouse” diapers

Taiwan Immigration and a Jet-lagged Toddler at the Grand Hyatt Taipei

A few final notes because I feel they fit better here than elsewhere in the trip report. We had to wait 15-20 minutes or so for our gate checked stroller – life of a parent. That obviously negates the benefit of getting off the plane first. M did get a chance to run around though.

What negated the negation was the fact that Taipei Taoyuan has a priority line for seniors and people traveling with children! So when we got to immigration we only had to wait for one other group before we went through.

Another nice thing about Taipei Taoyuan is at baggage claim there is a guy stacking bags on the conveyor belt for easier access. Sometimes it really is the little things that makes the travel experience pleasant.

After a generous relative drove us the hour to the Grand Hyatt Taipei (M conked out), we checked in. The first thing M saw when we walked in was the gigantic Christmas tree: “Waooooow!” Check-in was quick and painless at 1230 AM.

We then entered our suite which is one of the nicer rooms I’ve ever stayed in. I’ll have a full review on the Grand Hyatt Taipei later, but what’s relevant here is that M was running around exploring the room like a crazy person and we were all hungry.

So how better to end a long day (and change!) of travel than to order some Wonton noodle soup from room service? It did not disappoint.

Final Thoughts

Our journey to Taiwan ended up being the marathon I was expecting. Thank goodness we were flying in business class: real props go to those who survive with lap toddlers in coach. We’re all still recovering even three days later, but glad to be here. EVA and Grand Hyatt Taipei are da bomb!

Other Posts in this Series

Using Public Transportation in Taiwan with a Toddler

Dec 26 2014

Home for the Holidays: 26 Hours to Taiwan with a Toddler Part I – United Domestic First and LAX Star Alliance Lounge

Toddlers. Insisting on pushing stroller through terminal in PJs at 530 AM... — Toddlers. Insisting on pushing stroller through terminal in PJs at 530 AM…

We’re still recovering. A few days ago we set a family record by traveling for 26 hours straight – really 28 hours if you’re counting door to door. It was quite the journey, one I don’t know how we would have survived were it not for points and miles.

A caveat to everything I write here. A gigantic amount of respect and props need to go to parents who take their almost 2 year olds to Asia as lap infants in coach. It amazes me that entire planes home to Asia during the holidays are gigantic screaming nurseries in the sky. I think the <1 year olds are no problem lapwise, but once you have a running, super curious toddler: man, I’m not totally sure why airlines don’t lower that lap age to 18 months.

Obviously in business class we had it a lot easier and the rules worked for us! Here’s how the marathon trip went. It was such a marathon, I’ve split it into two (still too long) posts.

United Domestic First BOS-LAX

As I’ve noted elsewhere, we switched flights after losing out on the Hello Kitty plane (think I’m going to try to mention that in every single post in this series :)). We also decided not to bring a car seat, which meant we need to somehow get to the airport for 4:45 AM to catch a 6:00 AM flight.

I opted to call a car service which came with a car seat, it came out to about double a normal taxi ride (~$60) but that was obviously still cheaper than parking at the airport. The hidden costs of having a child!

A child who has watched very little TV was quite into the safety video — This child who has watched very little TV was quite into the safety video

I was actually most worried about this flight, it’s about six hours and although there is more space in first class, I knew it was still going to be pretty tight. M was pretty agreeable waking up early, going through security, etc., and we even had time to go to the United Club to change her (pretty decent in BOS FWIW).

Breakfast was actually pretty good. This is a double portion though

The flight ended up going alright, after sleeping the first 45 minutes or so she woke up and we all ate breakfast together (thank goodness for hot food in first). After all that there were over four hours left so it was about killing off an hour at a time.

There would be a lot of this the rest of the way

Introducing her to her new headphones, that took about an hour (and were a real hit). Reading some books, another hour. Playing with the seatbelts, another hour (though requiring my displacement). I even got her one of those demonstration seatbelts to play with. Walking up and down the aisle? Another great activity.

Delirium setting in... — Delirium setting in…

Between all that and periodic snacks, we avoided any major meltdowns though she got close at the end. For some reason she started insisting on lying on the floor, so we just let her do that until the very end. In the end, though the flight was stressful, I thought it ended up going better than expected (though to be fair I had very low expectations).

Long LAX Layover & Star Alliance Lounge

We ended up at LAX quite a bit earlier than scheduled, leaving us with a whopping seven hour layover. The benefit of this was a lack of stress getting between terminals. The downside was…pretty much everything else.

How is TBIT so nice and the rest of LAX so...not — How is TBIT so nice and the rest of LAX so…not

Things started out nicely as we met up with a buddy of mine for lunch after a long walk from one end of the airport to the other. By “lunch” I mean some bagels bought from an Einstein Bagel Brothers stand because as nice as Tom Bradley International Terminal is on the planeside, it is equally as crappy on the landside.

Thankfully we found a little sitting area where we could hang out for awhile, M was sufficiently amused by running around in the open space. Oh, and protip: it’s never Smarte to pay for a carte at LAX. While there are some stacks of carts that will charge you five bucks, there are loads of other carts lying around for free if you walk around a bit. I don’t mean like carts people left behind, it’s like carts with the Smarte Carte sign and just no money needed. Makes no sense, but don’t pay the money. I digress.

It's not smarte to get your carte from one of these (smartecarte.com) — It’s not smarte to get your carte from one of these (smartecarte.com)

After getting our EVA business class boarding passes, we went through security (“Hey people, this is TSA precheck, don’t take anything out, I’m not trying to trick you, this is supposed to be faster, DON’T TAKE ANYTHING OUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND TRUE”) and went straight to the Star Alliance Lounge.

I had read some nice reviews of the lounge beforehand and I think they are spot on – it’s very well designed, peaceful, and the outdoor seating area with a view of the runway is great. Well, it’s peaceful when you don’t have a delirious 2-year old bashing her head on corners because she is so tired she can’t stand up straight and bawling in response (seriously, she drew blood).

I'm a fan of the decor — I’m a fan of the decor

So yes, although she had taken a short nap after lunch, M needed some rest pretty badly. She was not going to get it. Ultimately we survived the lounge without disturbing everyone by hanging on the outdoor patio and watching the planes land.

It's a nice outdoor patio, although some people were oblivious to the non-smoking signs on every single table — It’s a nice outdoor patio, although some people were oblivious to the non-smoking signs on every single table

The food at the buffet table was okay, the highlight was quesadillas that some magical lounge attendant was passing around (magical because I never saw said attendant and quesadillas just would appear at my table). There is also a DIY noodle station which is good when the broth is hot (protip: you can ask the kitchen when they are refilling it or even for some hot broth).

The first of many bowls of noodles that have been consumed over the past few days

What really saved our ridiculous layover was being able to take a shower at the Star Alliance lounge. Though the lounge was pretty full, there was no line at all at the showers (though there are 8 stalls I think so it should move quickly even if there is high demand). After all three of us had showered and changed, we all felt better and ready to tackle our 14 hour onward flight to Taipei. Especially after M met her hero at the Sanrio store before we boarded.

It was great to take a shower, but the water pressure in Room 2 was seriously lacking

Final Thoughts

As I hinted at the top, I now think it is nearly impossible to take a child who’s almost 2 as a lap infant on a long flight in coach. For me, I don’t even think it’s worth the stress. Your child may vary, obviously. But the most stressful part of this trip was the long layover in LAX, which really is kinda sucky as an airport. The planeside beauty of Tom Bradley just kind of highlights what a stressful airport the rest of LAX is. But the Star Alliance Lounge is pretty great if you can get in there, so at least LAX has that going for it!

Other Posts in this Series

Using Public Transportation in Taiwan with a Toddler

Dec 24 2014

Home for the Holidays: Introduction

It’s been a busy travel year for me. After taking it relatively easy in 2013 (newborn baby excuse), I’ve managed to make five international trips this year. Makes me thankful for this hobby and the ability to save money and travel in comfort.

So a happy holidays to all as I begin my final trip of 2014! Though Jess and I were both born in the States, we both have a big attachment to Taiwan and Hong Kong (our respective “home” countries), despite our ABC (American-born Chinese) status. I even lived in Hong Kong for a few years when I was a kid.

As far as M was concerned, we could have stayed in LAX the entire trip

What better time to take M back home than over the holidays? First, it’d be the last time she could fly as a lap infant. Secondly, it wouldn’t be a 100% humidity sauna like it would be in the summer. And third, as an almost 2 year old, she can actually appreciate some of the stuff here (like the fact that everyone is speaking her preferred tongue.

This trip took quite a bit of planning – but so far it’s been going well. Here’s a quick taste of how we used our points and miles to cut the costs down on this year-end trip.

Outbound Flight: EVA Air Royal Laurel Class via United Miles

We are less than 24 hours off of this flight, but it was pretty great. But I digress.

I booked this flight around 11 months ago. Originally we were routed to take a Hello Kitty jet from Los Angeles. LAX is a terrible airport to transit, especially with kids, but the chance to fly a Hello Kitty Jet with a 2 year old girl (and my daughter too!) felt worth it. Of course, the literal DAY that I read that article EVA announced they’d no longer be flying the Hello Kitty plane from LAX. WHY!? Sadface.

EVA Air trolling us with their boarding video

Our original itinerary called for an 11 PM flight out of LAX – aka 2 AM eastern time. I decided it’d be prudent to switch our flights to the 350 PM EVA flight out of LAX. Like clockwork, this space opened up two weeks out (I’d say the cabin was only 60% full when we actually flew it and award space was available all the way until the day of departure).

Since I had booked before the United Devaluation, the flight cost us 120,000 United miles and around $10 in taxes and fees. Of course, M cost a whopping $515 – 10% of the base cash fare – for the honor of sitting on our laps. Still cheaper and infinitely more comfortable than flying coach with a lap infant, but those international infant taxes and fees are no joke!

Intra-Asia Flight: Cathay Pacific Economy Class via British Airways Avios

This was an easy flight to book. I searched ba.com for award space on Cathay Pacific and booked us two economy seats + lap infant for 9450 Avios and some spare change in taxes and fees. Since the flight is only 501 miles it cost 4500 Avios per person, a steal considering the cash fares were a couple hundred USD when I booked (one way!).

British Airways also has one of the most generous lap infant policies – 10% of the miles instead of 10% of the base cash fare – so M cost us 450 Avios. This would come in quite handy for the return flight.

Return Flight: Cathay Pacific First Class via British Airways Avios

The flight I consider the crown jewel of my trip: Cathay Pacific first home. I wrote about how I obsessively checked award space until it paid off back when I booked the flight. Rereading that post, I still can’t believe two seats opened up that far out – in a six seat cabin no less!

The short version: we booked two CX F seats plus an infant for 220,500 Avios (transferred from AMEX MR mostly). The flights cost us 105,000 Avios each, plus 10,500 for M. I still think this is way better than the probably >$1000 taxes and fees I would have had to pay for M if we had booked through AAdvantage (though it would have only cost us 67.5K each).

I’m beyond excited to try my fourth different first class product this year!

We had to also book a cash ticket home from ORD – M’s first miles earning flight! (I bought her a seat – she’s really way too big to be a lap infant in coach).

Taipei Hotel: Grand Hyatt Taipei King Suite via Points & Cash + Diamond Suite Upgrade

So we’ve already checked into our suite at the Grand Hyatt Taipei and I am pretty impressed. I had leftover diamond suite upgrades from my Hyatt Diamond Challenge (which has been discontinued and which I unfortunately failed).

Most hotel rooms are nicer than my house, but this one... — Most hotel rooms are nicer than my house, but this one…

I booked the room with Hyatt’s Cash and Points rate; ridiculously, this Grand Hyatt is only Category 3. Thus the room costs 6000 points and $75 per night. A pretty awesome deal considering we confirmed the suite upgrade as well. Rooms are currently around $350/night.

Hong Kong Hotel: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui via Points & Cash + Diamond Suite Upgrade

The Hyatt Regency TST is a category 4 hotel, so this one cost us 7500 points and $100 per night. Again, we confirmed with a suite upgrade and I’m looking forward to the stay after Trevor’s review!

Final Thoughts

This was a pretty exciting trip to put together. I have already had my fill of Taiwanese breakfast delicacies (not even counting the hotel breakfast) and am looking forward to the rest of this trip. Once again, points and miles definitely made things easier – will try to update this trip report as I go!

Other Posts in this Series

Using Public Transportation in Taiwan with a Toddler

Finding Peace and Quiet in Hong Kong

Eating in Hong Kong

Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui Regency Suite Review

Cathay Pacific First Class with a Toddler

Conclusion

Dec 17 2014

Lazy Weekend in Lyon: Kid Friendly Activities in Lyon

She was packed and ready to go but wasn't coming... — She was packed and ready to go but wasn’t coming…

On our short trip to Lyon, we opted to leave our daughter – we just figured it would be more fun that way. But as a parent, I now naturally find myself constantly looking at destinations through the eyes of a parent. As far as cities go, I found Lyon to be super kid-friendly. Was that just me missing M? Yeah maybe, but I think like many French cities, the green spaces and walkability are great for kids. Here are some things we did that I wish we had brought M along for. I didn’t mind doing most of them as an adult, either!

Parc Tete d’Or

I know I wrote about the Parc Tete d’Or already, but it really deserves special mention. For starters, it’s a beautiful green space that kids would love running around. But it also could be super romantic for adults as well, pre-dinner stroll perhaps? Like any park, it’d be great for a picnic or a run or both.

Who doesn't like deer? — Who doesn’t like deer?

The park also has a lot of activities that would be great for kids. There are boats to rent on the lake which would be great for older kids. There also is a full blown zoo that actually had quite a few animals – way more than I’d expect from something with free admission! There’s also a train to ride and a ton of playgrounds. If we had brought M I think we could have spent an entire day at the park, especially since the Hilton was so close we could have gone back for a nap.

These look like they could be fun... — These look like they could be fun…

Playgrounds

One thing I noticed about Lyon is that there seemed to be a ton of playgrounds everywhere. I guess that’s true of every city but for some reason they stood out to me in Lyon. A great example is a play space that was created near one of the bridges on the Rhone river. There were all sorts of fun things to do, a “sunken” pirate ship, and even a gigantic slide that I was pretty tempted to go down. So if plain old green space gets boring for the kids, there are structures to be climbed and slides to be slid on all over the place.

I really wanted to go down this thing but was wearing my only pair of nice pants... — I really wanted to go down this thing but was wearing my only pair of nice pants…

Bernachon

If there’s one thing kids and adults can both get behind, it’s chocolate. Yes, the Salon du Chocolat was in town, but even if it isn’t, there is good chocolate to be had. When I was reading about Lyon, Bernachon was on the must visit list. We visited on a rainy day and pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was a good thing too – we spent quite a bit of time there. They have some amazingly decorated cakes, pastries, desserts, and of course – chocolate! We’ve been slowly making our way through a box of truffles that we bought – amazing stuff.

Funicular

If you’re walking around Lyon, you can’t miss the Notre-Dame de Fourviere. It’s a beautiful building that is worth a visit in and of itself. For kids, the highlight might be the funicular ride up. For just a few Euros roundtrip you can ride a short tram ride up and down the hill. Just the kind of things a lot of kids would enjoy. And if they don’t, the views from the top are spectacular.

Traboules

Something cute kids might like, there are small passages cutting through some buildings that kind of feel like secret tunnels. Some nice architecture in there too.

Final Thoughts

It seemed to me like there were quite a few fun things to do if you have kids in town in Lyon. It definitely doesn’t feel stiff or unfriendly at all. We didn’t bring ours, but still enjoyed all these different activities. Especially the chocolate.

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