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I was highly anxious in the days leading up to our trip.
Phil was almost halfway through his global circumnavigation (link here) which I was closely
tracking. We were still waiting on the kids’ passports which finally arrived 4
days before we left. A strong dead animal smell (the fire alarm culprit from 2
weeks before perhaps?) started to stink up Nicholas’ bedroom so I moved him out
of his room. Catherine and I dropped off Comet at the kennel the morning before
we left. We set up 4 alarms the night before to make sure we would wake up at
stupid o’clock.
On the day of our departure, we were out the door and into
our cab at 4.50am. It was already busy at the airport. Our flight to Melbourne
was slightly delayed, but there was still plenty of time to walk to the
international terminal to catch our flight to Singapore. We were just a bit
tired from our early wake-up call. Once we were on our way to Singapore, we all
settled in nicely and entertained ourselves with plenty of movies on the 8-hour
flight.
We took our time leaving the airport once we arrived
Singapore. Surprisingly, the airport did not seem busy at all. It was very
quiet going through customs and immigration. Our luggage was already off the
conveyor belt and waiting for us by the time we got out. We caught a taxi to
our hotel. It felt weird and wonderful at the same time to be in a different
country. In the meantime, Phil was on his flight from LAX to Singapore so we
had one night there without him.
After settling in our spacious 2-bedroom apartment, the kids
and I went in search for dinner. We found a food court, Food Dynasty, just
across the street from our hotel. Unfortunately, the vendors there did not take
foreign credit cards. So we had to go in search for a cash machine. After
trying a 7-11 we were told that machines were at MRT stations. It was a little
challenging and frustrating with kids in tow and with the heat and humidity. We
were also hungry. We finally found a machine at the Bencoolen MRT and went back
to the food court to get dinner. We were also not used to the busyness and
crowds, so we were faced with another challenge. At one point, Nicholas
commented that “it’s easier with Daddy around.” J
A Japanese dinner and bubble tea drink were found in the end and we were not
disappointed.
Phil arrived at the hotel the next morning. It was so good
to see him again after over 2 ½ weeks without him. It was like Christmas
morning as he brought with him many treats and souvenirs from the US and UK. Although
he was jetlagged and his body didn’t know what time zone he was in, he managed
to stay awake and explore with us. Our first stop was a hawker centre, of
course, called Albert Street Food Centre. We had chicken rice, nuggets, bbq
pork with noodles, milo dinosaur, lychee bubble tea, and ice kachang. It was
wholesome and delicious comfort food. We walked back to the hotel passing market
stalls, colourful buildings and sculpted trees along the way.
Later that day we explored the Singapore National Museum
which also wasn’t far from our hotel. It was a good place to also learn the
history of Singapore while escaping from the heat and humidity for a while.
Dinner was from Food Dynasty again where we had the best chicken rice. With the
exception of groceries, food was very cheap compared to Australian prices.
The next day we went to Gardens by the Bay and checked out
the Flower Dome. But first, we had burgers, nuggets, fries and shakes at Shake
Shack. We spent a while at the Flower Dome afterwards, taking lots of photos of
amazing flowers, plants and sculptures. After an ice cream break, we walked
through the Supertree Grove back to the Bayfront MRT station to our hotel.
Dinner was from Thai Gold and Subway. I was excited to get an oatmeal raisin
cookie from Subway. I also visited Starbucks every morning while we were in
Singapore. The kids decided to have a swim in the pool with Daddy that evening.
On Monday, we went to the Singapore Zoo. We took the MRT and
then had to catch a bus to the zoo. There was a lot of construction work
happening and I wasn’t too sure about it at first. It ended up being a great
experience. It’s the most interactive zoo we’ve been to and the animals seemed
well taken care of. Fragile Forest was a pleasant surprise. We saw butterflies,
bats, squirrels, birds, ring-tailed lemurs, sloths and monkeys up close. Lunch
at the zoo was at KFC. Nicholas enjoyed sushi for dinner from IMA-SUSHI,
located at SMU, that night. The rest of us ate leftover Thai.
On Tuesday, Catherine and I went for a morning shopping trip
at Plaza Singapura. We bought a couple of dresses (cheaper than home) and found
the best bubble milk tea (smooth and creamy) at CHICHA San Chen. Then we went
for a late lunch outing to Newton Food Centre (filmed in Crazy Rich Asians) and
sampled more comfort food – dumplings, chicken satay and carrot cake with
refreshing drinks followed by more ice desserts. We then went to Bayfront MRT
station and spent the afternoon at the ArtScience Museum. We were disappointed
that the Future World exhibit was closed that day. We still had an interesting
and interactive experience in the Mental Colours of Wellbeing exhibition. Dinner
was at the very busy and pricier food court at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.
We then walked to the Supertree Grove where Nicholas and I went up the OCBC
Skyway. It’s a 128m-long aerial walkway suspended between 2 Supertrees at 22
metres above ground. Nicholas wasn’t fazed but I found it to be a bit scary. I
was more afraid of dropping my phone. The views were spectacular, especially as
the sun was setting. We timed it well as by the time we were back on the
ground, there was a wait to go up for more than an hour. We hung around a bit
longer afterwards and watched the cool light and sound show. The Supertrees lit
up along to retro (disco) music. There was a huge crowd for it and when it
finished, it took us a bit longer to get back to the MRT station. Phil directed
us well and we managed to avoid most of the crowd as we walked along a more
quiet and scenic route. The eventful day ended with Phil and Nicholas going on
a gelato run close to our hotel at Freshio.
On our last day in Singapore, we took our time packing
and getting ready to check out at 12pm. We left our bags at the hotel and went
back to Plaza Singapura where we had yum cha at Tim Ho Wan. It hit the spot for
me and Phil. We had sticky rice (for Catherine), rolls, buns and tarts. We went
on to get Burger King for Nicholas, milk bubble tea for me and frozen yogurt
from Yolé for the kids. We went back to our hotel and
picked up our bags before taking a train to the airport. We were able to check our
bags early and free to explore Jewel Changi Airport for the rest of the day.
The indoor waterfall and gardens were impressive. We had a nice time at Canopy
Park and found more food at the food court. We had kaya toast and kopi from
Toast Box. Phil got me American pretzels from Auntie Anne’s and more sushi for
Nicholas. We made a brief stop at the butterfly garden afterwards before
settling at our gate. Our flight home felt long and tiring as we didn’t have
good sleep. We were able to get some breakfast at the lounge in Sydney,
although we were all in a daze. Once home, we struggled to stay awake but we
managed to have a very quiet celebration for Phil’s birthday.
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