Tag Archives: travel + children

Baby On Board: Travel Tips For Vacations With Young Children

Before You Go

Prior to buying airline tickets and booking hotel rooms, make sure you’re going to a kid-friendly destination. No, you don’t have to build your entire trip around the kids, but the more there is for them to do, the more likely everyone will have a good vacation.

If your kids are old enough to walk, they are old enough to go through TSA security at the airport. Be sure to explain how this procedure helps to ensure safe travel without going into details. Kids older than 12 can walk through a security scanner alone, but they won’t be out of sight of their parent or guardian. Babies and toddlers may be carried through X-ray scanners in a parent’s arms.

While You’re Traveling

Take along a child-size carry-on bag for each kid in your family. Stuff it with a few favorite toys and plenty of healthful snacks. Eschew sugary treats in lieu of whole grain cereals, dried fruits, granola bars, and yummy trail mix.

Most airlines are willing to bend the liquid rules a bit when you travel with infants and small children. According to the TSA website, allowed items include breast milk and child-size containers of juice. Accessories to cool milk and juices are generally allowed, although they will be subject to screening. Gel-filled teething rings and unopened jars of baby food may also be allowed in carry-on bags. Continue reading →

Visiting The Mind Museum

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Visiting museums in my opinion is one of the most ideal activities to do with our little ones, and it is never too early tag along our children for a day of exploration, wonder and surprises. The Mind Museum has been on the top of my travel destinations list ever since I heard about it a year ago, that is why I was really thrilled when we get to finally visit the place when we joined last October’s Mom & Me Fun Circuit!

travel, educational places for children to visit, museums, travel + children, travel destination

why, hello thereT-rex!

We have visited a handful of museums in the past but I think the Mind Museum is the one that appeals to my little man the most. It also stands out from its contemporaries and this is thanks to the humongous 40-foot T-Rex dinosaur that will greet you as you enter the main museum area, not to mention the robot Memo who will graciously greet you at the entrance.

Upon entry, we are immediately ushered to one of their 3D theaters to watch the Birthplace, which is a flashback to 4.6 billion years of Earth’s natural history. The 3D film lasted for about 12 minutes.

at the Universe Gallery

The Mind Museum is a project of the Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. All ticket purchases and donations go to the maintenance and improvement of the Museum and its exhibits, plus help subsidize the entrance fees of teaches and public school students. The museum is divided into 5 main galleries, the Atom Gallery, Life Gallery, Earth Gallery, Universe Gallery and Technology Gallery and we joined other mom/dad and kids pair as we explore every nook and cranny. One of my boys’ favorite is that part of the museum with game consoles where they get to try a bunch of games. Jared was also fascinated with the mini billiard table as he saw a game on the telly recently and he cannot wait to give it a shot. He also enjoyed the miniature cars and other vehicles, as well as the Phase of the Moon exhibition where you get to view the different phase of the moon at a touch of a button. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the miniature displays about food, electricity, recycling among other things. I love the details and the love those who crafted these displays put into their projects. I also had fun peeking at the kaleidoscope and can barely keep up on how many colors I have actually seen there.

the vintage car at the Museum Shop entrance

We also take a quick visit to the Museum’s shop and saw a lot of animal figures and other souvenirs up for sale. They also have a bunch of beautiful 3D postcards on display, which I would’ve been able to check out more if I wasn’t busy running after my little man who simply wants to touch everything he saw!

Visitors can also enjoy the wonders of nature in the Science-in-the-Park wing, which we unfortunately missed as we arrived to the place after sundown. I would love to check this out with my little one next time, though.

Did I mention you are free to take as much photos as you want? So I went ahead and snapped as many shots as my mobile camera can take. What can I say, I love taking photos, especially of beautiful places!

The Mind Museum’s booth at Blogapalooza 2013

Incidentally, Mind Museum was one of the businesses featured in this year’s Blogapalooza. They have a number of museum memorabilia up for grabs for the blogger attendees and I was delighted to take home a couple of these beautiful Da Vinci postcards.

If you are planning to go out with your little ones over the holidays, you might want to bring them to the Mind Museum. I am sure they will enjoy it as much as my little man did! The museum operates from Tuesdays until Sundays from 9AM-12NN, 12NN-3PM and 3PM-6PM. Tickets are sold at Php600 for adults and Php450 for children and students. Public school students and teachers can get admission tickets at only Php150.

The Mind Museum
JY Campos Park, 3rd Avenue
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
:phone: 909-MIND {6463}
:mail: inquiry@themindmuseum.org
:computer: www.themindmuseum.org

top 5 things to do in Baguio: visit Bencab Museum + Cafe Sabel

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The third on my list of top 5 things to do in Baguio is to visit Bencab Museum + Cafe Sabel in Asin. It took us almost half an hour to get there + the place is not really on the busiest side of town, so it took us another 10 to 15 minutes of walk back to civilization where public transport is located {+ did I tell you that the road is elevated? We are in the mountains, after all}, bit if only for the beautiful + magnificent art works found in this quaint museum, I’d say our trip was well worth it!

I always love going to museums + there’s nothing like dabbing into the amazing + wonderful world of the arts + artworks. We took the time photographing every nook + cranny that caught our fancy, discovering each + every gallery in the museum.

+ when all the walk + the art made us hungry we went straight down to Cafe Sabel to sample what this treasure-in-the-mountain has to offer. From the lovely paintings on the wall, to the espresso kitchen cabinets, to the colorful tables + chairs and the divine food, I tell you we were not disappointed as it was one gastronomic experience! I won’t go into the delicious details as I’d love to tackle more about it on my food blog, but I’ve got a few samplers on the photos + I’ll just let them speak for themselves! 😉

We cap off our visit by dropping by the museum shop to get some souvenirs. I got a matching Bencab Museum shirt for me + the little man, as well as a pack of these beautiful Bencab paintings-made-into-postcards, which I shall also share with you in another post.

Our trip to Asin was all worth it, + I am sure we’ll go there again the next time we go back to Baguio.

How was your experience at the Bencab Museum?

My Baguio Travel Checklist

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“all my bags are packed + am ready to go…”

I wish I can claim that but I still have a few things to do before we travel north-bound for Baguio tomorrow night. We decided that it is most ideal to travel at night, instead of doing it early Friday morning, since it will be more convenient for the little man to stay awake until midnight, instead of waking up in the wee hours of the morning, so that leaves me with just too little time to iron out kinks on our itinerary {or whatever we have now that vaguely resembles one} + a few items here + there to fix around the house before we go + pack onto my reliable backpack. I am also a teensy-weensy bit wary, too, since this is the first time that we are going on a long journey with the little man + do not know how we’d fare.

Anyway I’ve created a checklist of things to pack so that I am sure I will not leave out anything that is essential. Here are the items on my list:

feeding bottles
the little man’s toiletries {which are the last to be packed since we’ll be using some items before we leave}
pants, shorts + shirts for mum + the little man {good for three days}
hankies + face towels, cloth diapers that functions as bibs for the little man {i cannot survive without them}
jackets
camera + mobile phones {along with the chargers}
pocket money + pertinent documents {along with a bunch of postcards I am mailing from the Baguio Post Office}
snacks + refreshements for our long trip
wipes + hand sanitizer, which are permanent fixtures in my bag, anyway
toys to entertain the little man while traveling on the road. I am thinking of bringing some of his cars or this best jig saw puzzle, perhaps

I plan to buy most of the little man essentials in Baguio, including diapers, wipes, formula + water, just so we won’t be saddled with them on our way up north. So one of the first stops once we get to Baguio will have to be a Mercury Drug or the supermarket!

Do you think you can add more to my travel checklist? Do not hesitate to shoot me a comment below. 😉

Mum Travels

a wanna-be jet-setting mum's travel + postcard blog