Lots of food, lots of rules
We arrived in Singapore, greeted by the beautiful Singapore Changi Airport. We were amazed at the technology and ease of getting through immigration and customs, smoothly making our way to our car. Our ride to the hotel was smooth with the exception of difficulty finding it. We had to book two separate rooms since each had a max of four people. We were on the same floor but down the hall and around two corners from each other. This was proving more difficult than one would think until we managed to be moved across from each other the next day. Each room was a small studio apartment with everything we needed – private bathroom, bed, sofa bed, small kitchen, a table with chairs, and a washer/dryer.
Our first day in Singapore, we had breakfast the original Killiney Kopitiam, where we fell in love with kaya (coconut jam) toast. We then headed over to Fort Canning, ready to explore, and visited the playground spaces. Our five year old especially enjoyed the large slides. He would happily yell the whole time down as though he was riding a thrilling roller coaster. We were hoping to check out Battlebox, especially for our 10 year old who is an amateur war scholar, but it was closed that day and we sadly did not have a chance to return. After adequate park time, we rode the MRT to BayFront. Not fully understanding where we were, we were amazed by the indoor boats and high end shops as we walked through Marina Sands. We managed to get lunch and a table to eat in Rasapura Masters. After walking across the Helix bridge, stopping for multiple photo opportunities, we headed back to the hotel for time at the pool, gym, and new rooftop playground. The day was a sharp contract to our time in India and it took a few days to adjust to the high cost of living after spending three week in India.
After breakfast on our second day, we headed to Chinatown. We grabbed not so great coffee at a hawker stall and went up to the playground at the top of the Chinatown complex. This involved a little extra up and down on the elevator, a helpful stranger, and a a climb up one flight of stairs. The destination was worth the journey, because the kids could run and play while we drank our not so great coffee. After burning enough energy, we visited the nearby Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, a large and beautiful dedication to Buddha with one of his teeth inside. Though we waited in line for the elevator, the upstairs was not crowded and we could take our time appreciating the space.
With empty stomachs, we headed to Amoy St. hawker stalls for lunch at Lagoon in a Bowl and a beef and noodle stall. When snatching up a table, those departing advised I put something at each chair we hope to claim. I found myself pulling various items from my purse to claim all the chairs at the table for our family of six (even napkins count as a seat holder in Singapore!) After food that exceeded expectations, we grabbed our very pricey Starbucks mug, walked through Thian Hock temple, and visited a metro station where we could obtain free travel cards for our 5 year old and three year old (this was a process involving their passports). We then made our kids very happy with a visit to the Chinatown Library, where they got acquainted with a selection of books in English.
Street Art
When we walked through the subway, we saw this sign. J eagerly texted a close friend about the craziness and strictness of Singapore. Later we found out that there was a street art exhibit going on at all the subways and that this was a piece of sanctioned art and commentary.
From the library, we journeyed to Pinnacle@ Duxton for a visit to the 50th floor rooftop views. The top was not busy so it felt very relaxed. Not only did we enjoy expansive views of the city but also enjoyed some small play areas for the kids. On the way home, we visited a mall to get our eight year old the Tamagotchi promised at Christmas (they were insanely expensive when available in Mauritius). At this point it was a long day and dinner time so we grabbed some pizza before heading home.
Our third day we went to Gardens By the Bay and had a snack in the park before visiting the Cloud Forest and Jurassic World themed exhibition. The exhibit was a hit for the family. The cloud forest is amazing on its own but the dinosaurs added magic to the experience. Our three old was positive that the animatronic T-Rex was real and going to eat him. But he also was very fond of the animatronic baby dinosaur that he was sure was real as well.
After our lengthy and magical tour of the cloud forest, we grabbed lunch at Shake Shack before heading to the Flower Dome. Here we not only enjoyed the wide display of flowers, natural statues, and variety of plants, but we also enjoyed the new year displays centered around the year of the horse. After thorough exploration, we walked around the super tree forest and played at the playground before riding the bus home.
Our fourth day started with another visit to Killiney before taking a bus to the southern ridges. Starting at Mount Faber, we hiked to a lunch by the Henderson Waves. We then crossed the Henderson Waves into Telok Belangah Hill Park. We did not make it to our Forest Walk as hoped due to closures but we managed to find a leaf bug in the Terrace Garden and turtles in the Stream Garden.
Our fifth day was an exciting one. We spent more time than expected at the ArtScience Museum. Majority of our time was spent in teamLab Future World, enjoying the interactive exhibits. It was a big enough day that we needed to leave for lunch before completing the museum. They also have a a kids’ area in the free space that we spent some time creating artistic messages and using tablets to interact with the space around us.
Our last day was exploration and shopping in Haji Lane, Baghdad Street, and Little India. We enjoyed colorful and familiar sites and managed to visit the Sultan Mosque just before they closed for prayer. Visiting Little India brought felt familiar since we had just spent nearly a month exploring India. We also found our way to Parkview Square, where the kids were joined statues in a cage. The kids enjoyed getting happy meals and balloons at McDonald’s. Our eldest does not do happy meals anymore and tends to be adventurous, but the poor thing ended up with a burger with a tad more kick than she prefers. Our last big stop of the day was an exploration of the expansive Tekka Centre. J sent the kids on a very big adventure to track down milk in an endless grocery store and K found some Tiger Balm.
Our flight leaving Singapore was at 3pm. We managed one last visit to Killiney before checking out and heading to the airport very early so we could explore Jewel at Singapore Changi Airport. We had a few near hiccups getting there. The first was the driver asking us what time our flight was, presumably to take us later than booked. When I didn’t give the time and just when we wanted to be there, he still tried moving later, which I declined. We also almost got stuck at the hotel. Checking out, they wanted us to wait 15 minutes so they could review the room. We had to push to get out since we had the driver and kids in the car at this point and weren’t willing to sit around 15 to 20 minutes. I had to communicate I was about to head out and they managed to get someone upstairs for a quick look so we could depart. Getting to the airport we were lucky to check our baggage early and then head to Jewel. We should have arrived even earlier than planned because the walk was long and there was a line to check the rest of our bags to more freely explore. We enjoyed the many photo opportunities and the fun slides. Soon enough, we were on a plane and off to Malaysia!
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