Babymoon in Italy and Spain!!

Makoto and I were in Italy and Spain for the last little while on our BABYMOON! :)  We figure this is the easiest way to travel with a child :P 

Once we found out we were pregnant, one of the first things on our to do list was to plan our babymoon.  Historically, the term "babymoon" referred to the time where you enjoy your newborn baby but it is now often used to describe the vacation many new parents take BEFORE the baby is born to enjoy some time together and rest before the many sleepless nights ahead of them!

We have both always wanted to go to Spain so Barcelona was an easy choice.  It's hard to go to Europe and not visit at least one other beautiful country so we decided on Italy (really...so I can gorge on nutella (my #1 pregnancy craving) and so Makoto can stuff his face with fresh gnocchi).  We finally decided on Venice, Florence and Barcelona.


A major highlight of our trip was being joined by our good friends Mendel and Haruka in Venice for an international double date :).  They also just became engaged so we had lots to celebrate!!  What a gorgeous and romantic city!  

Makoto and I are both big fans of renaissance art, fresco painting, obsessed with the history of the Medici family and big Brunelleschi and Michaelangelo fans so Florence was an awesome leg of our trip.  We tried to take in as much art and architecture as possible,

We climbed to the top of the Duomo for the amazing views of Florence (Brunelleschi and his team used over 4 million bricks just to finished the top of the dome.....how he designed and engineered this in the 15th century is pure genius) and lit a candle for our baby.....

We hung out at the Bobali Gardens...one of our fave places in Florence....

Spain was a first for both of us and we just took in as much Gaudi as we possibly could! 

And were able to take a quick day trip to Sitges...highly, HIGHLY recommended!

One day we will go back to Spain and I'll be able to taste every single one of these Spanish wines and cavas but for now, iced herbal teas are my champagne:

We had such a lovely, relaxing and romantic time away :)  We feel refreshed and are now nesting and getting ready for our baby! 

Before you go away for your babymoon, make sure that:
1.  You and your baby are in good health
2.  It's ideal to travel in your 2nd trimester
3.  Make sure there are no breakouts of viruses, such as Rubella, that can harm your baby in the place you want to travel.
4.  Check the location of local hospitals in the area that you will be staying at so you feel secure about having an emergency place to go to juuuuuuuuuuuuust in case.
5.  Take it easy and enjoy yourself!!!

HAPPY BABYMOONING!!

:)
Aileen Lim-Trotter

We're Baaaaaack! Amazing times at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul and Exploring Tokyo!

Oh my goodness!!  I LOOOOOOOVE KOREA AND JAPAN!!  What a wonderful way to begin 2011 :)


We started our trip in Seoul at our fave hotel, The Shilla.  After working straight through the holidays, we wanted to start our trip with some uber relaxation and there is no better place in Seoul than The Shilla to do this.  It has excellent, EXCELLENT service, an awesome gym, yummy restaurants and an extensive wine list at the lounge, amazing outdoor pool to enjoy in the summer  and THE BEST sauna and Korean Bath amenities EVER (Makoto and I are huge hydrotherapy fans and basically live in the pool/gym/sauna/steam room every time we stay here).  We went out our first night in Seoul to meet up with friends but after that, we spent the next few days relaxing, eating yummy food and visiting our fave spots in Seoul.

Entrance to gym/sauna at The Shilla:


Thank goodness we took the time to decompress because...

TOKYO IS CRAAAAAAAAZY!!  Since it was my first time in Tokyo, Makoto was my wonderful tour guide and we spent the week checking out all the major sites (Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, Roponggi, Tsukiji Fish Market (the best sashimi I've ever had), Ginza, Asakusa, etc) which were insane, beautiful and completely inspiring.  I can't get over how clean and organized such an intense city can be. 

And...of course...THE SHOPPING.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I was in shopping heaven.  I shopped.....

and shopped....



and shopped...



and Makoto was so patient...until he finally had a mini (much understood) freak-out on me and reminded me that we had bought another two pieces of luggage to carry all of my treasures back home in :) hehehe.


We were also so lucky to be there during the Sumo Tournament.  Even if you know nothing about sumo, you quickly become a fan.  They still strictly follow all the interesting rituals and traditions of the game, the rules are easy to follow and you can feel the love that everyone has for the Sumo wrestlers (who are considered national heroes).

Makoto eating Chanko Nabe (Sumo Soup):

Even though we were on holidays, we still tried to keep ourselves as balanced as possible.  We knew we'd be doing a lot of this (how can you resist fresh draught beer and "highballs" which are whiskey/soda/lemon at almost every snack bar/cafe/restaurant/izakaya in both cities):


So we still made sure to hit the gym, drink lots of water/green tea and get lots of good sleep in.  One thing we noticed in both cities is that there is such an extreme in the food.  It's either completely healthy, natural and nutritious if you choose to eat traditional Korean/Japanese (Korean soups/ban chan, Japanese nabe mono/sushi/sashimi, barley/green tea) food or completely synthetic, fried and MSG laden (ramen, curry rice, aspartame in almost everything sweet...especially beverages in Japan).  We definitely gravitated towards more traditionally prepared foods but had fun trying everything!|



Also, one thing we always splurge on whether at home or away are massages.  We were in massage heaven in both Seoul and Tokyo but I must say that Ariran Spa in Shinjuku was AAAAH-mazing!  They incorporate both Swedish and Shiatsu massage techniques and finish every treatment with layering hot towels over your body then wrapping you up in a thermal blanket while they gently knead your muscles.  To. Die. For.


I've been up since the crack of dawn (forgot to take my melatonin last night!!) so I did laundry (5 loads) and am looking through all my souvenirs and pics.  I heart Seoul and Tokyo forever and caaaaaan't wait to go back!!!



Now...time to plan the next trip!!!  Spain?  South of France?