We recently went on a short holiday to Hong Kong with the whole family.  The trip was great.  Only 3 days.  The kids were excited.

We arrived on Monday Night, stayed on Kowloon Side. Went to Ocean Park on the day after arrival (Tuesday), and the Peak the next (Wednesday).  That was just about all the kids & my 82-year-old Mother-in-Law could handle.  I wanted to do more, but they didn't seem like they could take any more than that.  The last day (Thursday), we just brought the kids to the Park & walked around a bit, then met a friend for lunch.

The trip back wasn't so great.  Probably because it was at the end of the day and everyone was so tired.  We arrived home late at 10.30pm.

On the whole, 8-month-old Timmy was quite easy-going during our stay in Hong Kong, nursing & sleeping & playing.

Our experience, as summarised below, may help you in planning your own travel.
 

TRIP TO & FROM THE SINGAPORE CHANGI AIRPORT
==============================================
The normal sized taxis could not take the size of our family (4 adults & 3 children).   On the trip to the Airport, we booked a London Cab, and on the way back, took a Mercedes Maxi-Cab.  This cost S$35-00 per trip (flat fee).  On hindsight, DH said we should just have driven our own car (a 7-seater MPV) to the airport and parked it there for 3 days.  Costs would not have been significantly different and it would have been more convenient.
 
 
 

PLANE
=======
We avoided the bulkhead seats in front.  Instead  we requested for 3 window seats & 3 in the middle of the same row.  In my experience, this was a better arrangement than the bulkhead seats that are almost automatically alloted to parents with kids.

The older 2 kids enjoyed the window seats.  And for me, because I was carrying Baby Timmy & nursing him, being able to take up the armrest for more armspace (& for Timmy's legs & head) was much more comfortable (bulkhead armrests are fixed).  Also since he fell asleep, mostly when I wanted food, I could still pull down the table which is attached to the seat in front to eat.   If I was at the bulkhead seats, I would probably have to have the flight attendant save my food for later when DH/maid had finished (take turns) before I could have my own meal.  That's because the table is in the armrests, and there wouldn't have been enough space to pull the table out from the armrest and fit it around a sleeping Timmy.  Timmy was quite alright in the plane.

During takeoff & landing, we had the older kids (and also all the older people, me included) suck on hard sweets like Ricola.  I nursed Timmy.  The children received toys to play with and also enjoyed the movies & cartoons that were showing.
 

STAY IN HOTEL
=============
There were 7 of us: DH, me, mother-in-law, maid, Sarah, Daniel, Timmy.  We took 2 rooms.  Rooms in Hong Kong are relatively smaller in size, but quite well-equipped.   In our room, we packed the 3 single beds together, and had ONE huge bed.  DH, me, & the 3 kids slept that way.  Really spacious & comfy!  Wish we could have such a large family bed at home!

This practice of co-sleeping makes it easy for the children to adjust to sleeping away from home.  Especially so for a baby since all he needs is to be with Mommy & to nurse.  No nighttime sleeping problems!
 

FOOD & DRINKS
==============
There was a 7-Eleven store just below the hotel (& all sorts of stores all around), so it was really convenient.

We bought tetrapacks of milk & soyamilk for Sarah & Daniel respectively.  They only drank this before they went to bed at night.  When they woke in the mornings, they helped themselves to MILO and buns/muffins/pancakes that we bought the night before.  Timmy is fully breastfed.   It was simply great not having to cart any milk bottles or cups and sterilisers around this time since none of the children are on bottles anymore.

As for the other 2 meals, the kids just shared our adult foods.  Timmy was usually happy sitting in his high chair and feasting on strips of plain bread or plain "mantou" (Chinese bun).  Sometimes, I would also just peel off the plain part of the bun for him to munch on when we went for "yum cha".   Not all Hong Kong restaurants have baby high chairs though.  Even if they did, they tended to be booster seats with no seatbelts, so you'd need to be a little more careful with a baby inside.  Or you could use a baby sarong carrier to strap baby to the back and sides of the chair.

We also brought along in our bags some snacks & 2 bottles of water to help the 2 older kids recharge themselves during the day.  All the walking and the cold weather can run their energy down quite quickly and then they would be rather grouchy.
 

HEALTH
========
I was having a cold/flu & had lost my voice just 2 days before we left.  Probably because of that virus, I broke out in rashes and was battling that the whole time I was there (just praying & hoping that the rashes don't go to my face so I look horrible!).  But other than that, I was ok.  The kids were also having a cold/cough before we left, but weathered it quite well.  Even though we lathered the kids with cream & oil, they still had dry skin all over their bodies by the last day and have a cold dry rash on their cheeks.  Timmy reacted to either the air (cigarette smoke or otherwise) or his own cold by having very sticky eyes.  Since I put breastmilk in them, the eyes are no longer red & swollen, and is less sticky.
 

WEATHER & DRESSING
====================
It averaged around 17 deg Celsius, so it wasn't really that cold.  We dressed the kids with turtleneck tops, long sweatknit pants or jeans & a sweater over.  I had them wear turtlenecks so that we didn't have to bother with scarfs to protect their necks.  When the weather turned cold (at night, near the coast & at the peak when the wind blows HARD), then we let them layer a jacket (with hood) over.  Body heat is lost quickly through the head, so in cold weather, it is important to protect the neck, head & ears - especially when strong winds blow.

I dressed Timmy in a little romper and layered a sweater & thick pants over with socks.  He refused to have any hood placed over his head.  I found it easy enough to pull the sling fabric up over his head & ears, so that worked.  When he slept, I had him lying down in the nursing position which you can see on our Sling Photos webpage so that his ears are covered.

I personally brought along 2 longsleeved mock turtle & turtleneck nursing tops which I wore with jeans.  Since I only had 2 Long Sleeved nursing tops, I made do on one of the days by using a normal longsleeved top with a men's large-armhole singlet (found some black & grey Montagut ones at John Little's in Medium size for ~S$10/- each. The white ones are much cheaper at 3 for S$4/-).  I much preferred the nursing tops because I could tuck in my top and didn't need to hike up a top that reached to my hips!  Much better to be able to tuck in my top since I was also wearing a waist pouch. Of course, the alternative worked too - just that I preferred the convenience of the nursing tops.  If you all like, I can probably make some such for sale on Moms in Mind later this year.  Let me know.   When the weather was cold, I layered my jacket OVER my sling.
 

NURSING
==========

I nursed Timmy just about everywhere.  I'm sure you'd all have guessed it.

I was so glad that I was using the sling.  Great for nursing.  Less disruption to our schedules.  The older kids would not have been very happy waiting for me to find a place to sit down (sometimes difficult - there's people EVERYWHERE, even in winter!).  Would also have delayed our exploration of HK.
 

LUGGAGE
=========
DH & I shared 1 small travel bag with rollers.  We used our trusted suitcase (a little larger in size) to carry stuff for the 3 kids, including enough diapers for Timmy.

While out during the day, we carried an extra sportsbag to put everyone's jackets inside because they tended to be put on & off every so often during the day, depending on temperatures!  So the bag was for the times when the jackets were "off".  Easier to have everything in one place.  We also carried snacks, water, some cream/lip gloss, and a First Aid Kit (kids just love colourful plasters, don't they?) and a few diapers.
 

GETTING AROUND IN HONG KONG
===========================
Getting around in Hong Kong on your own is fairly simple.  Just get hold of one of the guidebooks at the Airport (or get if from the HK Tourist Association).  Buy a stored value card, and you'd be able to travel to most places of interest by the MTR trains.  The cards can mostly be used on the Ciy Buses too, and the KCR trains if you're going up to the New Territories.

Our children especially enjoyed the trains, the tram rides, the cable car, and the ferry rides, Ocean Park, the Pandas,........... even jumping & bouncing on the hotel beds!
 

That's about all I can think of now.  If you all want to know anything else about how we managed during our trip to Hong Kong, write to us!