Currently the rather new Beijing Capital airport must be my favourite airport. If travelling with kids The Zurich one might win for the kid facilities, but here's what I rather fancy Beijing Capital: 

it is spacious, clean and smells good. All my flying experiences have been great and there has never been very long queues (but I still always arrive with plenty of time to spare just in case)...The international terminal has lots of shopping in case you run out of time with those traditional souvenirs and treats - but the prices are higher and you miss the joy of haggling that takes place on the streets. 

There is also plenty of luxury shopping, and as Beijing is very expensive compared to US and Europe, these prices are at least a little bit lower. For food there is plenty of choice too - from your coffee shops and Pizza Huts to Chinese and Japanese cuisine. And the little ones gets ot enjoy a couple of very clean-looking play areas while the parents are enjoying free wi-fi (which obviously works well as I am writing this and getting my pictures in too)...

This time I was hpoing I actually had arrived even earlier as I quite wanted to get a little traditional foot massage (prices are not bad), but sadly I ran out of time... Maybe next time!

Traditional buildings for relaxations

Relaxing with light music and watching at goldfish

There are few resting oasis like this scattered around - spot one of my favourite stores - Shanghai Tang on the background...

Little tea shop selling traditional teas

The sound of water is always relaxing

The cutest charm bracelet from Shanghai Tang found its way to my wrist...

I'm off now - see you in the Valley!

How lucky we were to stumble across this great restaurant in our district (Shun Yi) here in Beijing - the Filling Station. I'll admit, that so by far I have discovered, that the grass truly is greener on the other side of the fence: therefore, being outside US we really crave for some good ol' burgers. And that is what we got (with Australian meat should I mention, very yummy!)

We also got to enjoy fab decor, real service and enjoyment for the whole family - while we were waiting for the food and sipping our drinks (cold cider!) the kids were enjoying the playroom right next to our table. True to American style there are theme nights with quizzes and stuff, so we'll be back. They even seemed to have all-day breakfast of offer and I'll definitely take on that some other day! 

Now, as with any "western" place, the price is also a bit higher, but still reasonable. Two burger platters, three kiddie plates and drinks set you back about 60 USD, whereas your local Chinese can be in the region of 3-4 USD per platter. Still, not bad. And they also got real toilets there (clean ones) - great when you got kids. We'll be back and introduce the place to some friends too. 

All in all, two thumbs up for the Filling Station!

My restaurant rating for the Filling Station: Good
Address: 8 LaiGuangYing Donglu, 来广营东路8号二楼. Tel 010-84703821

"The food at the Filling Station is good, but depends on what you order - some things they make better than others...The price is reasonable for Beijing, and what makes the great for families is the playroom (it's a bit scruffy, but not so bad that a little hand sanitizer afterwards wouldn't help). The music is nice, although they could change the CD every now and then.

We liked the casual and very US-looking decor also - a breath of fresh air I would say. Also, the bathrooms are pretty clean and don't smell (not so common in China). The level of service varies, and so does the ability of the staff to speak In English. Note also that not all things on menu are always available - I've been drooping after the dry cider ,but by far they have never had it in stock..."

Unfinished. A bit of vintage. Worn out and shabby chic - that is what Rought Luxe Design -book is made of. And what a fab book it is - inspiration from reusing the old and mixing it with some new: it's the ultimate shabby chic style, and even the book has that recycled rough wood finish.

Rooms that make you think of Classy Halloween spirit, industrial kitchen looking like last century's apothecary...so cool and relaxed. if only the price was a bit lower, but you gotta fork it out for what is in right now. Recommended? Oh yes, if this is the style you like!

I have gotten a new gadget and I hope it's going to be a useful one. Having lived in a pretty dark environment (think of no sunlight in winter) the importance of getting sunlight can't be ignored and we used to have one of those desktop bright light thingies. But the issue with that is that one needed to sit pretty close to it for 30 minutes a day and there wasn't much else to do then. Yes, the benefits seemed to be there, but still - it was hard to make time for it on a frequent basis. 

Now a Finnish company have come up with a next generation blight light set which channels the light straight into the photosensitive parts of the brain through the ear - and in a fraction of time (around 10 minutes). A portable version, which you can plug in when doing some other stuff and take it on the road when you travel. Sounds pretty good to me. 

Valkee should increase energy levels and prevent mood swings - and I am liking what I hear. But, since it's quite sunny outside I don't currently need to use this, so I designated the hubby to test it - poor thing has travelled in a week in so many timezones spanning 15 hours, so his task was to try to avoid jet lag headaches and sleeping difficulties. And this experiment seems to work - few days in and he's seems well adjusted, so it's a good start. Current recommendation is "oh, yes", but I'll provide updates once I had to travel and I can test it, not to forget the effect of the missing sunlight...

22/1/2013 My still-satisfied update: We've used Valkee on many inter-continental flights and on grey, uber-polluted days in Beijing when there is no change to go outside, or even see a glimpse of the sun. Still happy with our machine - so at this point I'd give it three thumbs up since it's you only need to use it for few minutes and you are not trapped in front of a large lamp, but can do whatever you needed to do anyway, while you have the Valkee-plugs on! 

The best way to travel between Finland and Sweden, as well as Finland and Estonia is with a ferry/cruise ship. This is because the nature is amazing and there are literally thousands of islands and birds on the way to look at and admire.

So that is exactly what we did also when we went from Helsinki to Stockholm. There are two major cruise lines: Viking Line and Silja Line and we chose Viking (it's a bit cheaper and also had more availability as I was booking rater late). To get the most out of the trip I recommend an overnight journey, so you get to start fresh in the morning in Stockholm and get to enjoy the sunset and sunrise and enjoy the boat's entertainment.  

These boats are really cheap (if you don't want a cabin at best a ticket can be less than 10 Euros ($10) but even a more luxurious cabin on upper deck and with a window (best when you got kids) will set you back around 250 EUR (around $300). Some of the cabins are under the water line and therefore have no windows, are noisy and very small (bunk beds that fold away) whereas on upper deck you'll have nice views, fridge with some free soft drinks and bubbly and a TV (most of the channels are local though).

The boats used to be known for their excellent buffets meals, but I would just recommend a buffet breakfast (and buying tickets in advance as they are cheaper that way) and having a dinner at one of the restaurants. That is what we did - kids had a kiddie buffet with desserts and we did a fab starter and dessert buffet and a separate main course. So delicious!  

These boats really are made for travelling families, as all the old conference spaces have been transformed into kids play areas, thus having a total of 7-10 play zones in every boat. Since we were there during the Olympic games they had lots of competitions for the kids where everyone wins lots of prices. Be prepared for hours of play time!

My verdict? Definitely worth going. Viking Line is fine, although some of the boats are a bit worn out (but I hear that they are in the process of renewing their fleet). These are not luxury cruisers, but definitely a notch up from the quick ferries travelling to Estonia. This is a fun and enjoyable trip and not too long in terms of duration, so recommended for all! 

Great cabin at the front of the boat. Ready to take off from the center of Helsinki 

The cabin was spacious enough for a family 

The harbour has great views and one gets to witness the amazing skills of boat captains when they turn around their large cruise ships 

So yummy starter buffet with Mediterranean and Nordic fish delicatessen...

...not to talk about the gourmet dessert buffet!

If you are not booking an upper-level cabin do bring your own toiletries, otherwise you'll get these cute and fun products with calming messages

One of the play areas. This was on a boat called Gabriella, we also took Mariella and Isabella since we went from Stockholm to Aland (islands between Finland and Sweden) and from there back to Finland, but this time to the old city of Turku 

At times there are several boats following each other en route, almost like highway congestion!

I love this idea and have already added a package in my shopping cart: uber-cute Eco Stilettos People towels - reusable and eco-friendly hand towels. The kids are consuming so much paper at meal times and when we travel, so I am hoping we can turn this into an eco-friendlier habit. I hope that the promise of these towels drying instantly is true, as I don't want to ruin my handbag with dirty little towels.

They are available via OpenSky (invitation link attached if you are not a member yet) - one of those curated website (I confess I have probably joined them all for finding one-off treasures and great sales!) for $30 at the moment, and I joined they offered a $10 credit, so even a better deal! And should I mention that EcoStiletto has a lot of other cute little things too on offer! 

Review addition: we have thoroughly enjoyed using our reusable towels and after lots of chocolate smears and washes they are still clean and cool-looking. The added benefit of course is that we have cut down quite a lot our disposable kitchen paper usage, so this is truly a greener act, although is a small scale, but every little counts...

If you have hard time coming up with good gift ideas, here are some great ones, which guarantee the recipient happy surprises every month. Subscription-based specialty gift boxes are the hot new trend, and one can pick to try them normally for 3, 6 or 12-month periods. The longer the subscription, the cheaper it normally gets and most places have free shipping also. Some even allow you to customise the message that goes with the card, so these boxes work for every season. Here's a sample of cool new subscriotions, which appear to deliver good value and high-quality products.

For the food lovers: Foodzie

With a monthly subscription fee of $29.95 you can either get a monthly tasting box or pick from the vast artisan selection your own tasting experience. Something new and tasty to try out every month and the selection looks delicious! This san Francisco-based company also aims to emphasize local goods based on your location.

For the beauty lovers: Birchbox

For a monthly fee of $10 you'll get five handpicked cosmetics samples every month and great offers from their store if you decide you would like to buy full-sized products. They also have a new box for men called the Birchbox man. They got all the great brands such as Benefit, Bulgari Guerlain, Kate Spade, Kiehl's to name a few.

For the deserving mom: Umba Box

Starting at $26 per month the lucky lady will get handmade pretty little things: scarves, jewellery, bath products, accessories, stationery or home goods. What's in the box then? It's hard to know until you receive one, but their blog certainly gives some ideas of those pretty little things they have curated.

For those with little babies and toddlers: Citrus Lane

Prices starting at $25 a month gives you 4-5 cool products every months. These boxes are intended from birth to 3 years of age, and additionally they have some other boxes, such as the expectant mother's box featured below. The November box on the left seems to have the Din-Din platter from Innobaby that my son so loved (read my post here), so the retail value of these boxes is rather high.

For the new moms and for caring babies: Bluum

This $9-a-month subscription service helps to discover deluxe skin care products for babies up to age of 12 months and new moms in an easy way - including organic ones. They also sell some of the products on their site. The good thing about this service is the easy, month-to-month service options and the low cost.

For little kids who love crafting: Babbaco

Babbaco's subscription fees start at $29.99 a month and unlike many other services you can just try first one box. Their target age is between 3-6 years, and a typical box has 3-4 projects, which cover the themes of creating, exploring, story telling as well as digital activities. Our kids have been testing the November box and posts of their views and crafting outcomes will be posted soon. Our box had 4 activities geared towards giving thanks theme, which includes a lovely Thanksgiving book and even a little something for the parents - a tea kit.

For little kids who love crafting: Kiwi Crate

Similar to Babbaco, Kiwi Crate also sends a monthly activity kit targeted to kids between 3-6 years of age. Their subscription fee is $19.95, and will get you two discovery projects and bonus material for additional, on- and offline activities and discoveries. Previous boxes have featured themes such as dinosaur, gardening and colours.

The list is endless, as one could add the more traditional models on healthy snacks, pet supplies, fruit, chocolate, beer, wine, coffee or tea providers, or even bit more unusual ones, such as knickers or ties. Whatever your friend or loved ones style and likes, there is likely some great subscriptions service out there you can find.

So the last, bit more unusual one would be for bacon lovers: Bacon Freaks

...and their Bacon is meat candy! -subscription

With twins it was expected to have the girl start her toilet training before the older (my 1 minute but still...) brother. Miss C. sort of started it herself by having dry nappies (aka diapers) at the nursery, so we just decided to take them off. And it's been smooth riding ever since with just a few little accidents. The brother has been asking to go potty at all hours too (especially 5am! when we are not that keep) - I think it is great, but despite trying hard I think most of the times he's request comes a few minutes late...

Anyway, the process of toilet training is there, as they both can go to bathroom solo, know how to use the paper, flush, wash hands with soap, dry them, and in miss C's case apply some nice smelling hand lotion once or twice on every trip too. We haven't been giving the kids any pressure on this, but since the young lady seemed ready we have moved onto the next stage - naps and nights without nappies - and this certainly is much harder. The outcome highly depends on how much she has to drink later in the evening, but she is happy and proud of her progress.

To avoid the huge amount of laundry that comes with accidents I decided to use the moisture-absorbing topper on top of the sheets and it's been a great success. We first got to test Innobaby's Sleeping Smart organic crib sheet topper and have absolutely loved it. (If you have seen my previous posts it is quite obvious that we love in this household Innobaby's products, such as the Din-Din steel platter and the Packin Smart containers). I wish we had these when the twins were small as they would have been perfect for little cribs, but at least we got them now. You can tie the sheed form each corner so it stays well in place in a bigger toddler bed and it's perfect for travelling (wish I had these on our mountain trip when we got wet sheets in the hotel!). I love the fact that on top of being so absorbent and waterproof, these sheets are also organic and soft. A big winner compared to our other toppers! So once again Innobaby has come out with a lovely product that I would definitely recommend.

Disclaimer: I have received a free sample, but I have not been otherwise paid for writing this post, and all opinions are my own.

One of our recent road trips took us to the Mammoth Lakes ski resort region near the California-Nevada border. Pretty impressive I must say - and plenty to see and do in summertime! I was so surprised how well the kids take the long ride (and we don't even have DVD players in the car) and happily played, read, drew and slept for hours on our way there and back.

Since we only stayed a couple of days and the schedule with kids needs to allow time for naps, eating and snacking and child-pace walking we did not have that many things on the to-do list. We still managed to take the gondola to the top of Mammoth Mountain and enjoy a lunch, a play in the snow and a little walk there, walk around the earthquake fault zone (pretty impressive at least for me as my first major in university was geology), visit the actual lakes around Mammoth Lakes, go swimming several times, do some shopping (Ralph Lauren and sales!), hike a total of seven miles on one day.

The last one was a special achievement as it was pretty hot and our 2-year-old twins did about 4 miles of that trek themselves. We were rewarded with changing landscapes, the unique Devil's postpile, a rainbow at Rainbow Falls and lots of little animals and huge logs to walk on. Super fun but tiring! The skiing slopes were used by hundreds of bikers going down the hill on every possible speed and style - it was fun to watch also...One of the key tips when staying with little kids (repeating my words again) is to stay in a hotel/apartment with a good kitchen as it makes a huge difference on how your little ones eat - and ultimately sleep too.

The Westin Monarch Resort was a great place to stay with its superb kitchen, plenty of sleeping space, amazing mountain views and heated outdoor pool and hot tubs. As a destination Mammoth Lakes and the surrounding region is great for young families too.

Far-reaching views on the way up

I can see snow!

On the way to the top and 11 000 ft

Amazingly wide earthquake fault line

One of those beautiful Mammoth Lakes

This kind of sums it all - first stop Devil's postpile followed by Rainbow falls. Total day's walk was around 7 miles and our 2-year-old twins walked/ran/skipped about 4 miles altogether. We were very impressed, and Hugo was asking a couple of days later at home to go for a walk again!

Devli's postpile - pretty suitable name should I say

The trail followed along the little river

Burnt forests are part of the nature's ecological cycle, but they do make the scenery look a bit empty and eerie

We did it - Rainbow falls! And we also saw the rainbow forming close to the bottom of the falls!

View of the Westin Monarch Resort with the great heated pool area where one can relax and enjoy the mountain views

Our family has become lately such a great tester family, and especially the kids love testing as they get some cool new things to try on. Last time the lucky one was little Hugo, who got the Din Din steel bus platter from Innobaby (link to car-fanatic boy and bus platter). He's definitely become a better eater - and he's been a real gentleman by letting his sisters take turns and use that cool platter too.

We had some more green products to test from Innobaby and this time I thought the lucky girl would be Celeste, but it turns out that kids have become such good sports that they all just happily shared their snacks and things with each other. And that makes mom happy too. What we got to try was the Packin' Smart Zoo Animals stackable containers in Strawberry Sorbet colour. Our container had three tiers, but there are also 5-tier containers available.

The verdict was very positive - both from the kids and mom, especially the mom I should say. I have been using resealable plastic bags (not very green I know) and sometimes little plastic containers with lids, but somehow most of the raisins, goldfish or cheerios end up crumbled in the lunch bag, or even in the backpack among the schoolbooks. As we have had some ant issues (building site next door!) I am desperately trying to prevent crumbs outside the kitchen, as these ants just smell them instantly! What is so great about these containers is that when stacked and the lid is on, they don't open up magically by themselves. And if you happen to knock over the little container just one or few items will spill out and onto the floor (and not the whole bag) - depending on the size of the snack you have packed into these containers.

Miss C. loves carrying her stack of containers around like a handbag and she also learned quickly to stack and open the containers by herself. I love the reduced mess and the fact that I have less crumbled goldfish and Cheeries that I need to throw away. This stack is easy to take on a trip and then share among everyone. And for school I am planning to start packing each kid their own container once I have ordered some extra lids (the stack comes with one lid) as this is a perfect snack size for them at the moment.

This certainly is yet another step for our family to become greener while reducing disposable waste (plastic bags). And just like other Innobaby products, these containers are safe as they are free from BPA, Phthalates, PVC and Lead - and can go to the dishwasher, freezer and microwave.

So our verdict of Packin' Smart containers is that they are very functional, cute, safe - and fun products, and therefore recommended for families with kids (or no kids if you are looking for cute and fun snack container for yourself)!

Our cute 3-tier pink Zoo Animals container set

Once containers are stacked, they don't open up by themselves. Smaller round opening on top ensures that everything won't spill out if you knock over the containers (but little fingers still fit in fine and kids think that it's a lot of fun trying to fish out the snacks!)

Spill test in progress - resulting in 1 loose goldfish as well as 1 loose dried cranberry and a sunflower seed. As Cheerios are smaller one can expect to loose 2-4 Cheerios if they are knocked over. Still not bad if compared to full plastic bag or other open container spilling everything on the floor on in the car...

Single pack - 3 tier is perfect for us for getting each kids their own container with its' lid for school. You need to buy separately additional lids though

What's also important is that the kids containers are easy to clean - and here the inner lid (the top of the container) can be pulled off, which makes the cleaning job easy and ensure that nothing is left in the corners of the containers

Two of them happily sharing the snacks - and just one cheerio has escaped by far despite containers being switched back and forth all the time

Three of them happily sharing and still just 3 cheerios have escaped on the table...

Packin' Smart containers come in different, sizes, colours and themes and now it's also possible to buy additional lids and create separate single containers

Slowly and surely this household is moving to a greener direction. The latest aim I have is to reduce the plastic in the kitchen, namely in containers and plates. Therefore this week we are testing something cool again - the lucky tester is Mr. Hugo, the older half of my twins. He started out as the taller of the two, but the more willing eater Miss Celeste has long ago past him to the point that people now think she is a year old than her brother (difference of well over 2 inches - 6 cm at the age of 2+). Hence the question how to get him eat better?

Little Hugo is a huge fan (with capital H) of cars and trains - so much that in the nursery the cars go everywhere - and even at home one can hear his cars revving up under the comforter at bedtime and they get washed at bath time. So Hugo got this cool new plate -the stainless steel Din Din Smart bus platter from Innobaby. It's cute, fun and also it being stainless steel it is nontoxic and durable.

The first meal was a huge success, and I hope the future ones will be like that too. The favourite car found a parking spot on the platter too, which meant that he didn't leave the table in the middle of the meal to park it elsewhere. Happy boy and even happier mommy! The lingering question though now is what kind of eco-plate to get for the twin-sister. She was asking about bunny and car-shaped plates. Good ideas - anyone? Innobaby, are you going to make a bit more "girly" plates too (I'm not talking about princesses and fairies here but what about some animals, or house-shaped plates)?

Cute, non-toxic and durable stainless steel bus platter from Innobaby

This bus is ready to go - first we target to empty the wheel and then tackle the "fruit and veg windows"

Yay - it's working well! Meal one started (and finished) successfully and today's favourite car has found its pole position on the platter too (the British Airways airport runner)

Ever since I burned my leather trunk coffee table with a hot teapot while living in the first House of Anaïs I have been a great fan of coasters and hot pads for my cups, mugs, plates and pots. I have a collection of all kinds of coasters - there are the wooden ones, plastic ones, glass ones, leather one, cork ones... And now I have finally silicone ones.

But both the wooden and leather ones don't like moisture too much, plastic ones are generally great and were my favourites (especially these Marimekko ones) before discovering silicone but sometimes they bend and often cannot be unbent, glass ones are cute but break easier, and cork ones - even when coated go bad so easily - just like the Christmas-themed one here. So I was happy to try the silicones ones.

These Coaster Notz cuties come also from Modern Twist - just like those eco-friendly colorable kids placemats that have a been huge success in our household(link here). This means that they are also eco-friendly and part of the proceeds are donated to good causes. Silicone can resist heat well, they are flexible and work especially well for me as little note cards on the run (I always seem to loose my notepads and post-it notes).

The same goes with the hot pads - I have metal ones (work great but hurt if dropped on feet and are heavier), fabric ones (they get dirty and even burned sometimes), cork (works well, but isn't the prettiest thing in the neighbourhood). This orange cutie called Trivetz is great to look at, has been easy to clean and can be used with other to make a larger surface if needed (and I keep it n my counter as it is great to look at unlike the fabric and cork ones).

My verdict:  lots of love by far for all Modern Twist products. I like my things cute and functional and if they are also eco-friendly and recyclable that's really great!

Part of my coaster collection consisting of all sorts of materials

The eco-friendly silicone coasters - easy to clean and can we written on and wiped off easily - so can be used as place cards too!

The cute hot pad, also made from silicone. This also comes from Modern Twist selection and is called Trivetz

Coasters in cute patterns and colours

A selection of the cute silicone coaster patterns (mine are the purple ones pictured here and I am thinking of getting those cute grey ones with the lime green leaf type prints)

Cute hot pads from Modern Twist that can be combined together

bottom images Modern Twist

I know we are not the greenest family in the country, but we are trying to do our fair share on recycling, walking, shorter showers (miss Anaïs so enthusiastically uses her water timer for everyone) etc. We also try to live a relatively healthy lifestyle by eating more local and organic produce, avoiding PBA and other chemicals and so on - and I recently also blogged about my quest for safer equipment in my start of the school year story. Basically we updated the kids school kits to these cute and eco-friendly lunch bags, food containers and water bottles (link here).

So recently we were asked if we wanted to test some environmentally-friendly products and the whole family was very excited to try some out. The kids selected these cool placemats from Modern Twist - made out of food-grade silicone (they are very flexible so none of those bent corners that normally happens to our plastic placemats). What is so cool about them is that you can colour them - and immediately I was thinking of long car journeys, sticking them to my handbag when going for restaurant meals (double benefits for being able to scrap all that falling food back to the place and entertaining kids as non-chain restaurants don't normally have activity packs for kids and the waits time are long). We'll see soon how all that works as we are heading on our Yosemite road trip!

Oh how they loved colouring these placemats - for once they stayed in the table eating the dinner and then colouring their pictures. Poor little Hugo got sidelined a bit as his rather artistic daddy wanted to also have a go too when enjoying his sushi. My tip would be to get one of these whiteboard erasers as it makes the cleaning of the placemats really quick. I also liked their colouring pens as they are child safe - and easy to wash off from clothes if an accident happens (unlike some other pens...)

My verdict all in all- we all love them, they are very cute and safe and can be used for many purposes - highly recommended!

Miss Anaïs is so concentrated on her arts journey

Pensive miss Celeste is wondering what to colour next

And daddy gave it a try too

And this is how far the kids got after meal one - and can one tell a difference between a 2-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy? Or maybe he just has a very modern style...

Here are some of the placemats Modern Twist offers - I am thinking of getting the ABC one so that the twins can combine learning with art and eating (some multitasking tigermom thinking here)!

- As always all opinions are my own and I did not receive any money for writing this post