This is about our family holiday in Singapore.
It's my third time there, Alvin's second and the kids' first.
It was a short holiday, tiring, but not as tiring as I expected it to be.
I'm sorry, but I will have to pass uploading most of our pictures there, as that will consume a lot of my time again. (I'm actually killing time, while I'm uploading the pictures for the photobook of my parents' anniversary).
First, we availed of the Singapore Stopover Holiday promo which allowed us to choose a hotel with discounted rates and have access to fourteen attractions for free. Not bad. I loved SQ the first time I flew with them, so I knew I was in for a good 8-hour trip. I wasn't disappointed :)
We stayed at Hotel Royal at Queens, not really a five star hotel, but it was okay for us. After all our travels, we have learned that we need not an expensive hotel, since we just need a place to sleep in and freshen up. It was a good hotel in terms of it's location. It was very near the train station and since SG train system is very, very good, it was a major plus factor.
We got and finished checking in at around 4:30 and we headed off straight away to the Toys Museum and then to our Hippo River Cruise. It was a relaxing 45 minute cruise along the rivers of SG but the humidity was just too much for us to bear. We had our first food trip after the cruise and we tried the oyster omelet. We ended up taking the cab after we ate, which was a good decision, because as soon as we got inside the cab, it rained cats and dogs, not to mention the thunderstorm!
Second day was allotted for Sentosa and the Universal Studios which was not part of the SQ promo. The kids loved the place. We didn't push them to see everything (yes, sayang ang bayad)until they were very exhausted when we saw some signs, we asked them if they wanted to go back to the hotel, and they said yes, straight away! We had the chance to freshen up after our trip before heading out to Orchard Road to meet my SIL based in SG and a little night shopping.
Third day was allotted for Jurong Bird Park. I forgot to put on mossy spray for the kids and Liam had already a LOT of mosquito bites after only 10 minutes! The kids, especially Liam didn't enjoy the park :( because of the mossy bites he got early on. Good thing the bird shows were excellent so Liam's mood changed for the better :) Again, learning from our past experiences of the effects of pushing kids to their limit, we decided to goback to the hotel after having lunch at the Bird Park, freshen up, have the kids have their afternoon nap, and then went out again. We went to Singaopre Flyer before heading back to Vivo City to have dinner with my good friend's family. They are based in SG. We also had to chance to meet our respective inaanaks, we are ninangs to our respective second borns :)
Fourth Day, we had the chance to do some shopping (FINALLY!), check out Esplanade, other malls which were near the hotel and go back to the Merlion Park, when there were still no people or tourists around to take their pictures. Yes, we were early!
Overall, the humidity added to our exhaustion, but like what I said, Alvin and I already learned our lessons from our previous trips. It's not about touring the whole of SG and pushing the kids to their limits. It's a trip that we wanted to enjoy not on our phase, but with the kids' phase. There were a lot of walking! If we sensed they were starting to act up, it was a signal for us, that they were already tired. So, even if we still wanted to try out a new place, we sacrificed that. We travel to have good memories with the kids. Happy kids = happy parents.
Even if we were not able to use and go to all 14 attractions which were part of the SQ promo (a reason to go back perhaps?), it was still a memorable trip. Especially the food trip! I started gaining weight at the plane with the yummy food SQ offered and it continued as we tried different dishes from the different cultures SG has to offer. What is Singapore if you don't try out different dishes from different cultures?
Now when we play airport-airport with the kids, I can see that they are using their memories from our past trip and encorporates them into our role playing. Nakakatuwa.
I don't know if there will be another chance to go back to SG, if ever there is, it won't be in the near future. Need to travel and check out other countries and continents out there! :) Till we meet again Mr. Merlion!
 |
| thank God for apps I get to combine some of our many pics in SG |
 |
| another output from the app I use :) at SG Flyer, Jurong Bird Park, Orchard Road and Universal Studios |
