SINGAPORE

We arrived Singapore at 10pm and found it very easy to find our way to immigration. The children did not sleep a wink on the whole 8 hour flight and neither did we! Because we had also been sat in the front row – yay leg room – it meant, the children couldn’t use the screens for a hour or so into the flight. Taxi, queuing, take off, turbulence… and it also meant the screens had to be stowed away a good while before landing. So there were some tantrums! We had the kindles but we had not downloaded anything as the selection on the plane was so good. Lesson learnt! Always have back up! We join the immigration queue and just before it’s our turn, I hear the dreaded words, ‘Poo poo mama!’ With a sprint that will definitely put Usain Bolt to shame, I get C back upstairs and to the toilet. And no, she did not poo or wee but had a big glug of water. I was tired and cranky and so were all the children.

We got through and followed the signs. We needed to head to T1 to catch the metro to our hotel. Oh the hotel! This is one of the perils of writing after the fact! Our Singapore accommodation got cancelled on us about a week before we were due to arrive. I unsuccessfully tried to find another place on Airbnb. I then realise that Airbnb is banned in most buildings in Singapore. I turned to the swap sites hoping that as most people were away, we’d have some luck. None really – I did get a lot of replies. Most had their keys with them where they had gone and of course couldn’t get it to us. Others didn’t even get my message till they returned in the New Year! We took to monitoring booking.com daily for price drops. Now most hotels will drop prices a few days out to get their rooms booked. We decided to spend New Year eve at the airport back at the Aerotel and then book accommodation from the 1st of Jan as that would keep our costs down. Anyway, I stroll through booking.com as you do about 3 days before our flight and this hotel had a price drop but it’s listed for 2 adults and 2 children. So we called them up and they were happy to book us into a 1 bedroom suite at Park Avenue Changi Hotel. It is close to the airport – 1 metro stop away and has enough space for us all plus cooking facilities. The best of it all, we didn’t have to watch the fireworks from the runway!

We found the metro station and collected our luggage – yes I was overcome by my Nigerianess and acquired a suitcase! Lord help me! Agaba needed a ticket as he was over 0.9m tall. To be fair he was taller than most children his age there! However, we could only get his pass at the main stations. We purchased the Netts cards as those double as a bus/ train pass but can also be used in certain restaurants, shops and places of interest. These were better value for money as if there’s money left on the cards by the time we leave, we could always use it at the shops. Public transport is very cheap and accessible in Singapore. Between the metro and the buses, you can get everywhere! The hotel was easy to find. It was located by EXPO and is in a business district, not that you’d know that. The heat, oh God the heat! It was humid, we were sweaty and sticky and all just needed somewhere cool! We checked in fairly easily, found some dinner downstairs (everywhere open for more or less 24 hours!) and off to bed we went!

Waiting by immigration. Let me in!

A big welcome to Singapore.

The MRT station – directly across the road from our hotel

Andrew for scale! He’s standing by what would be his bed for the next 5 nights. I had the pleasure of sleeping on the sofa. It was very comfy

Fully fitted kitchen and a washer dryer that actually dried clothes!

Free smartphone with WiFi access.

We woke quite late. This remained a recurring theme of our stay in Singapore. There were a few eateries and a very large supermarket – FairPrice – by the hotel. We had some breakfast and discovered that we’d been provided with a mobile phone for our use. It had our names – of course, programmed into it and had apps and as well as recommendations on what to do and see and discounts on things. It also had internet! The battery lasted all day, never dropped below 70% even though we used it heavily for browsing whilst out and about. We could also call certain countries for free including the UK, Australia, US and some other countries that were not useful to me so I can’t remember!

We decided to head off to China Town. We crossed the road to the Metro Station and it was easy to see which stations we needed and where to get off etc. People were very friendly and chatty. My pre-conceived impressions were actually very wrong which is a pleasant experience.

First (well 2nd) Metro trip

I was struck by how clean everywhere is!

Food tables everywhere. Kept very clean and pristine

Cooling down

A Buddhist temple in Chinatown

Inside the temple

It was the dragon festival. Lots of dragons about

More dragons

We spent the whole day walking round, visiting temples, watching the dragon street shows and competitions and eating street food. The food was wholesome, hearty and quite cheap. We spent about $30 on food, drinks and ice lollies which was very good value. We decided to take the scenic route home and took the bus.

I was impressed by the commitment to provide green spaces everywhere. Even in multi storey building!

Enjoying the bus ride

Bus stop decoration! Good thing about sitting in a double decker bus, you can see these hidden gems atop buildings!

We again got back the apartment shattered! Over the course of our trip, we noticed C has started stuttering. Initially it was amusing but as she didn’t stop after a few days, I was getting worried especially as she’s never stuttered and she’s the most linguistically advanced of the children. However it still seemed to continue. Interestingly though, she wasn’t continually stuttering since we’d been in Singapore. We’d been counting down the flights to going home and were down to 2 flights till we get home rather the 10 we started off with. It was raining on our way back to the hotel which was an absolute relief. I’d always told Andrew how much we enjoyed running around in the rain as children (I did it a lot as an adult too but…) He never quite got how that could till this very day. One minute, we had sweat pouring down our bodies and the next there was this cooling mist. If you stayed out of the rain, it remained muggy. Step into it and you cool down! Of course we did end up getting all wet but who cares!

We also took advantage of the pool in Abu Dhabi and the children were doing great with their swimming. We were glad to see this hotel had a pool as well. So we had dinner and went off to the pool. The children absolutely loved it and so did we. It was a roof top pool and we could watch the planes coming in to land or taking off.

Day 2 – we thought we would head to Legoland, Malaysia. There are buses that you could book to take you across all the way including through immigration. We had brunch – woke up late again, stepped out and decided it was too hot and humid and went off to Little India instead. Again we walked round, ate lots of street food but just before we were about to head off, G projectile vomited everywhere. All over the table, her clothes and of course me. I looked round in a I’m totally f…ked way but one of the attendants came over (there are cleaner who go round cleaning all the tables and clearing away paper plates, cups etc) and said not to worry. I had a gazillion packet of wipes – as you do when you have little one and cleaned her up, plus changed her clothes and cleaned myself. I had no change of clothes. I tried to offer him a tip and he refused it. None of the other diners even batted an eyelid. I was super impressed. I could hear all the tutting and shuffling away from us that would have happened had I been somewhere public in the UK. We also overpaid the food stall owner by about $50. He sought us out and gave us back the excess. I worried about getting on the bus or metro back. It was an hour’s ride and rush hour. Luckily, everyone promptly fell asleep! More luckily, I’m not emetophobic as I had G on my lap to let others sit (the bus was packed) and somehow, she got vomit in her hair so I had that fabulous aroma to inhale for just over 1 hour!

A few minutes later, all that came back out!

We got the wrong bus back so got off about a 40 minute walk away from the hotel and meandered our way through the streets back. It was great because we could see the local area and also get the children to walk as it was almost 7pm therefore a definite late night! But boy was it humid! We were drenched in sweat by the time we got in. So it was change to swim suits and pool time! There’s a saying that there are only two seasons in Singapore. Hot and Hotter. We were visiting in hot weather! The temperatures averaged 26 degrees!

Day 3 – again we woke late, had brunch and decided to visit the world famous Marina Bay Gardens. It was awesome! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Singapore is one of the countries that offers free tours if you have a layover of 8 hours or more. It’s also not restricted to certain passports. The Marina Bay Gardens is one of the tours offered. Do it! Build a layover in and see it! It is a massive place. You need at least half a day to thoroughly enjoy it.

On our way back, we went in search of more street food but opted to find one in the residential areas close to the hotel. We went towards Tampines East and found a whole array of street food vendors – handy mobile phone with free internet win! No, we were not put off by the previous night’s food and throwing up episode. We had typical Singaporean fare instead. It was pricier than most but came to around $70 for meals and the biggest jug of smoothie I’ve ever seen and no, I didn’t take any pictures once the food arrived. We just ate!

Day 4 – we pottered around the local area and spent most of the day in the pool. It was the only way to cope with the heat! It was also our last night in Singapore. Our flight was not till Friday night the next day which meant we still had the whole day to explore.

Day 5 – we checked out of the hotel and they held our luggage for free so we went off to Sentosa Island. We decided we certainly didn’t have the time to see all of Sentosa Island therefore we would spend the most time at the Aquarium. It was the world’s largest aquarium when it was built and it was impressive!!! There is lots to do and see on Sentosa Island. You need a at least 2/3 days to see it properly and take everything in. It’s also a self sufficient Island with hotels, ATMs, food courts and there’s a huge shopping mall at the start of the walkway.

Cable cars for those who prefer the aerial route to Sentosa. We walked across the bridge. It took about 8 minutes and it was a very pleasant walk. Also mostly under cover

Some new gizmo structure being built. It looked very alien like

We didn’t make it to Universal Studios or the theme park but they all share the same entrance with the Aquarium

We left Sentosa Island at 4pm back to the hotel. We were all checked in by 6pm and went off in search of dinner. Our flight left at 9pm for Melbourne. We arrived in Melbourne bright and early, had some breakfast in the waiting area (we only had a 1 hour layover) and cleared security for our next flight. We got upstairs and I realised I’d lost my phone. I couldn’t go back to security. The elevator was one way only which was going up. I found a call bell and pressed it. The security agents were so lovely. There was no annoyed looks or sighs. They sent someone up who led me all the way through back to where we came off the plane. I retraced my steps and found the phone propped up on a ledge by the toilet. I must have forgotten it when I took the girls in to change them earlier. I felt so relieved! It was a borrowed phone too! If you’re reading this Becky, your phone is fine!!!

We had a budget for $500 in Singapore for 5 days and spent every last penny! For all our spending, we used a Transferwise MasterCard. It doubles as a debit and cash card. I opened a Transferwise Borderless account before we left and pre-loaded the currencies of the different countries we were visiting except Jordan. There was no Jordanian currency so all spends came out of the currency with the lowest conversion rate and highest exchange rate which was the Dinar – makes sense as it’s close by. So we had euros, dirhams, Singapore dollars, NZD dollars and UK pounds loaded onto the card. All serviced from our UK account. I also had the Transferwise app so could keep an eye on our daily spending plus I can instantly freeze the card in the event of loss of theft. We went with £2500/ $5000NZD spending money for the 30 days and returned with £82/$164NZD. Not too bad for a family of 5 which increased to a family of 8 for 10 days of the trip. I also bought a phone for £400 out of that spending money!

We decided we have to definitely return to Singapore and spend some good time there! Oh, we also didn’t get Delhi belly. I guess it was just a case of eating too much and the heat!

Now to start planning for our next trip!