The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps
You would have picked up bits and pieces of our Kyushu road trip experience in my previous articles: ‘Overview Northern Kyushu Itinerary‘, ‘Travelling with an infant‘, and ‘Fukuoka Airport to Nagasaki‘. We took a highway bus from Fukuoka airport to Nagasaki and travelled around Nagasaki …
We took a red eye flight from Singapore to Fukuoka with Singapore Airlines. When we arrived, we went straight from Fukuoka airport to Nagasaki. We travelled from 21 February to 1 March 2018. Here are a few options we considered for travelling from Fukuoka (International) …
It’s hard to travel light when you have a baby, unless you are a very chill parent, or you can afford to buy most things at your destination. To add to the load, travelling during winter meant more things to pack into the luggage.
This post is based on our 9 days of winter holiday, where we had 7 full days in Northern Kyushu, Japan. The temperatures were hovering from 0 to 15 degrees. Baby EG was only around 8 months old then. You can take a look at our itinerary.
Layering is the best way to dress for winter. It’s generally recommended to wear 3 layers: thermal wear for wicking, a sweater for insulating and a jacket for protection from weather elements. As for baby EG, we added one more layer. Scroll on to see her layers, inside out.
For the first layer, EG put on ultra-warm heattech for the top and bottom. You can also get other types of thermal underwear, e.g. long johns. Prepare at least two sets to rotate. Do wear the diapers well to avoid the thermal pants and other layers from getting poo-stained.
Then after donning the thermal innerwear, EG wore a long-sleeved baby romper and normal leggings, not the thick leggings you see in the photo below. This outfit is the type she wears to air-conditioned places in Singapore.
We prepared pretty sets in case we needed to take away all her jackets indoors. In the end, we didn’t get to do that often, because we rarely took off the layer after this.
Hence, baby EG re-wore many of her clothes, since it’s not dirtied with sweat (protected by the thermal wear) or dirt (protected by the jacket).
We brought two woolen-like jackets for EG to interchange (photo below). Two is a good number since jackets will appear in most photos. With two, she wouldn’t seem to be wearing the same clothes throughout the trip.
EG didn’t wear this jacket layer for her airport fashion. Instead, she wore a fleece romper (long sleeves and pants) for this layer.
For bottoms, EG wore winter leggings or leg warmers. It’s again good to have two to rotate and one as a spare for a week-long trip. You might want to consider footed leggings, and not bring so many pairs of socks.
The last layer to put on is the puffer jacket! It was worn when we headed outdoors and not in a baby carrier. A puffer jacket seems to be a good choice because of its water-resistant and windproof nature. This jacket works relatively well for EG, except for high altitudes with strong wind.
A hood is superb as extra protection, or as backup when the hat is in the hotel or nowhere to be found.
We preferred a colourful jacket because it looks better in the photos, and it’s easier for us to spot the jacket in case we lost it or forgot to wear it on her. More importantly, it’s easier for us to spot the baby, if for some reason we were apart.
We got ColdControl Lite bear puffer rainbow stripe from Gap during their US online sale, at US$36. This is already out of stock, so a similar one would be this puffer jacket. Shell and Filler: 100% polyester. EG’s jacket is sized for 18–24 months so that she can grow into it, but with all the layers, it felt quite fitting at 8 months old, except that the sleeves were long.
If you look carefully at this photo, you will notice the above-mentioned 4 layers! :)
This 3-tier protection is important, from top to bottom: head, hands, and feet.
To avoid losing heat through the head, wear a hat. We got a traditional winter hat for EG and when it got extra cold, we lifted the hood of the puffer jacket over the hat. We would also pull the hat low to cover her ears as much as possible instead of bringing ear muffs.
The neck is another important part to protect from the cold. It’s hard to find turtle necks for infants, and hence as an alternative, we got a woollen scarf for her. Since it’s not easy to swing it around her neck, we sometimes simply placed it across the exposed neck area while she was lying in her pram.
Gloves for the hands. We prepared two sets in case one gets dirtied, you never know where the hands of babies will go. We got bigger sizes for her to grow in and to cover the wrists. Cotton and nylon are terrific materials for gloves.
At 8 months old, baby EG wasn’t walking yet. So we didn’t put much thought into getting a good pair of walking shoes. Micro Fleece Pull-On Booties looked like a pair of well-insulated footwear for her.
However, the booties slipped off easily as her feet shuffled around at times. Moreover, her feet felt cold when we removed them as we stepped indoors. We should have worn wool socks on her for better protection.
We are going to head to another cold country end of this year. So I will update again on what it’s like to wear a 1+ year old toddler who’s already walking.
That’s how we wore our 8-month-old infant for winter. Do you have other suggestions or questions? Let me know in the comments below. :)
Before you go, you might want to check out my other baby travel tips: travel.joogostyle.com/tag/baby-travel.
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Disclaimer: JoogoStyle and Christina accept no liability (whether in tort or contract or otherwise) for any loss or damage arising from any use, misuse, inaccuracy or omission of the information or other contents published on this website.
I suppose you are planning a trip with your baby and that’s why you are here. Is it going to be the first time you are travelling with an infant? Then, read about my first travel experience with 8 month old baby during winter. If …
Many people told us to go on a holiday as a couple, notably a babymoon, as much as possible before the little one arrived. Glad we took the advice and went for a last-minute babymoon trip to Taiwan. Travelling with a baby is a different …
We were looking for accommodation in Kumamoto two months before our stay. However, 90% of the hotels in Kumamoto were booked out, leaving none within our budget range. So we went through the Airbnb listing, and alas, there weren’t many options either! Only two choices were in a good location and within our budget. Not sure why the occupancy rate at Kumamoto was so high for that weekend.
We didn’t want to stay at an Airbnb for our first trip with an 8-month-old infant. It’s better to have a concierge in case of emergencies. Moreover, a friend told us there was no heating at the Airbnb he stayed in Mount Aso (also in the region). As a result, his pregnant wife suffered from the cold.
I am scared of the cold, and I have an infant. Thus, I specifically wrote in to ask about the heating, but they gave me a half-truth (read on).
Airbnb Listing: One Bedroom apt by Kumamoto Castle (www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/8133992)
Period of Stay: 23 – 25 February 2018
Amount Paid: S$216.72 (for 2 Nights)
Parking: There was no free parking, and the host suggested two public (paid) carparks nearest to the apartment. The two carparks have different fee structures, and the closest one that’s a minute walk is too expensive for our two full-day parking. Hence, we went to the other one, about a 1-2 minute walk and paid 2,000 Yen (S$25).
From the carpark, it’s a straight walk to the place. However, with a baby, a stroller, two big luggage and a handful of hand-carry, this is more troublesome than having a carpark in the building. Moreover, we had some difficulty locating the place, especially with construction blocking the entrance.
I didn’t capture it in the photo below, but there were steps to the entrance. So after a ~2.5-hour drive from Nagasaki, hubby still had to do a bit of heavyweight lifting. The building doesn’t seem to be wheelchair friendly from what we know.
Naomi and Frode didn’t meet us at the apartment, and according to their profile, they are based in Tokyo. Most likely, they got someone else to do the housekeeping. The main door key is in a key box, and they had clear instructions on where to find and how to open it. The key box didn’t open easily, and my first thought was “Oh no, we are already so tired, I don’t want to be stuck at the door and wait for help to come.” Hubby unlocked the key box the next moment, and we were soon inside!
Pardon the mess you see in the photo below. We were carrying so many things that we had to dump everything down when we entered. No more hands for the camera. It’s good that the dining/living area was big enough to put our luggage. The whole apartment was very neat and clean before we stepped in.
On the table, there’s a file with instructions for apartment care, and some Kumamoto travel brochures. And in case you hurt yourself or fall ill, there’s a first aid box near the window.
The small kitchen is well-equipped with cooking equipment, utensils, etc, for you to whip up a meal. Good for us to prepare meals for baby E.
One downside of living in an Airbnb is that there’s no daily housekeeping. And in Japan, there’s no rubbish chute in the house. According to their instructions, we had to sort out the rubbish and bring it down with us to throw. That’s extra baggage to the many stuff we bring out as parents with an infant.
No mineral water was provided, except a half-full big bottle. But they did provide some Japanese snacks for us to munch on, which was a sweet gesture.
Walking past the dining/living/kitchen area, we arrived at the bedroom, and there we plopped our baby on the tatami mat. It was a nice space for her to roll around and play in. However, before we sleep, we have to set up the futon (Japanese traditional style bedding) according to instructions.
One thing I don’t understand. Why did we have to remove the bed sheets, along with used towels, and throw them in a basket at the end of our stay? They said it’s easier for them to do the laundry and know which towels have been used. Hmm, why do I have to do this work for them – ain’t this included in the cleaning fee? And what if I used and folded a towel back? Would they not wash it?
Since they seemed to be quite strict with their check out timing at 10:00 am, we had to make sure we got up earlier to prepare the baby and ourselves, throw the rubbish and remove the sheets and towels.
“May I know if there’s a heater in the house? We are coming from a tropical country and with an 8-month-old. Thank you.”
“Yes, we have an air conditioner in the apartment. :-)”
The noob me didn’t know that there was a heating function in the air-conditioner until hubby told me. So that’s great, we are good to go!
One of the first things I did when we arrived was to switch on the heating function of the air-conditioner. It was located in the bedroom, and after a while, I noticed that only the bedroom was heated up! The other spaces remained chilly. What the….
The living room gets very cold at night when we were there during winter. Thus, it’s a chilly walk to the bathroom at night. This was especially unpleasant after I showered because I had to walk to the bedroom to dress myself. Same for the baby. And it was also unpleasant when I had to wake up at night to pee. That’s why I said the hosts told me half-truths. If I knew about this, I might not even have considered this place.
Just so you know, there’s no WiFi in this apartment. Moreover, it would be great if there were a dresser table in front of the mirror. It would be easier for me to put on my makeup and use my hair straightener. It’s only when we were about to leave that I noticed a small table mirror to use. It would have been helpful, though still not ideal, to use it on the low table in the room.
They provided clean towels and basic toiletries such as shampoo, hair conditioner and shower foam. Japanese bathroom is small, but this is smaller than usual, at least smaller than the one at our Nagasaki hotel. Hence, I felt constricted when showering.
My baby was crying one night because she was tired. Thus, hubby was trying to shower her quickly and put her to bed. Who knows, halfway through the warm shower for her, the hot water ran out!!! He waited a while more, but there was only more cold water. Imagine you are cold and tired, and you only have cold water to shower. So it’s not surprising that she screamed even louder. And with the living room being chilly too, I was praying baby E wouldn’t catch a cold!
The location is really good. If you are there only for Kumamoto Castle, then this place is excellent. About 8-10 minute walk to Josaien, which is at the foot of Kumamoto Castle. It’s also a 10-15-minute walk to Shimotori Shopping Arcade, Kumamoto’s largest shopping arcade, and Ginza Dori. Great places to shop, dine and drink.
According to an Airbnb review, it’s also near the bus terminal and 3 minutes to the closest tram stop (花畑町 Hanabatcho).
Oh, but the common complaint we read is the traffic or noise from the street. We didn’t really hear much, but in the afternoon, when we arrived, we heard an ambulance siren blaring really loudly two to three times. Hence, we asked the host if this would continue through the night, because baby E is a light sleeper…and we needed good rest!
“I am not sure about the sirens… we are in the central Kumamoto and on the main road, so we do have a lot of movements outside… Hope it’s not too loud for you.”
When we were walking to Kumamoto Castle the next day, I saw a hospital or medical centre near the apartment. They failed to mention this. Half-truth.
Other than the half-truths, overall communication was good. Naomi & Frode took the initiative to message us and make sure everything was okay. Also, they willingly helped us to call and make a dinner reservation in Japanese.
Just a side note, they gave us their blog post for things to do in Kumamoto. We made a few detours and went to one of their recommended places, the Kumamoto Prefecture Bussan Museum, only to find out it was closed for renovation. :(
3 out of 5 stars. I would have given it 2 stars if not for its good location. However, if I am travelling during warmer weather and without a baby, I might rate it 4 stars.
If you decided to go ahead with this or other Airbnb listing, you can sign up with my referral link and get S$45 credit: www.airbnb.com.sg/c/christinas7795
Do have a look at my Overview Itinerary of Northern Kyushu, Japan (Winter/Spring 2018) for other posts around the region.
Before you go, you might want to check out my other posts on Japan. Leave your comments or questions below. Love to hear from you. :)
Looking for more tips on travel, home, and baby? Subscribe to my mailing list and follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube! If you like what you read here, keep it going with small support. :)
Disclaimer: JoogoStyle and Christina accept no liability (whether in tort or contract or otherwise) for any loss or damage arising from any use, misuse, inaccuracy or omission of the information or other contents published on this website.
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