One week in Singapore with Family

Dream come true, few days off, no laptop, no mobile phone, no work tension, no investment worries. Time well spend with family in Singapore.

Day 1:

We landed in a rainy Singapore on a Saturday morning, a friendly taxi took to us to our Hotel in Lavender, the staff were very courteous and without much fuss gave us an early check in. We hit the bed almost immediately after stepping into our room, the hotel was quite good and the rooms were nice and clean but a wee bit smaller for a family of four. There was no space for an extra bed but we found ways to manage.

We woke up past noon and the excitement in all of us did not allow us to laze around much, we were quick to hit the road and were on our way to the Singapore flyer in a taxi. The flyer is the largest Ferris wheel in the world – beats the London eye by nearly 100ft. Wow. We boarded the flyer for the slow half an hour- single rotation. My younger one was a tad disappointed that this wheel did not furiously rotate like the one she recently tried in Ooty. The view was awesome and we all did enjoy the first outing of our trip. The girls also tried their hands (actually legs) in the fish SPA, allowing infinite fishes to nimble their dead skins. They all enjoyed it at that moment, not sure of its other benefits.

We walked to the Merlion from here and enjoyed the view and gathering there. After it became dark and our stomachs were crying for food, we decided to visit Clarke Quay for dinner. The place was beautiful but the vegetarian girls could not withstand the smell (read Aroma) of the Chinese food, we quickly retreated to Little India for some Indian food. Wondering why is vegetarianism so very Indianish only. Sigh. Back to the hotel in a MRT.

Day 2:

This was a full day and a Sunday. So after the breakfast at the hotel, we rode a taxi to the Zoo. The zoo did not look very crowded. The zoo has some very interesting and rare animals and one thing I must admit is that this was not a smelly affair unlike most of the other zoos I have visited before. The white tiger pair stands clearly etched in my memory, so is the first ever view of Kangroos. We also made it the animal shows and of course the shows very interesting even though there was some drama build in to create the excitement.

The night safari is simply out of the world experience, just make sure to walk around as much as possible, the tram may not be that exciting. There is Nocturnal animal show as well, which is again not miss-able. We took a bus and MRT combo to get back to Hotel, we walked into a local food court, there was no Veg food but one enterprising shop keeper offered to make veg fried rice, but the girls were in no mood to sit there watching the many kinds of Non veg being cooked and meat hanging around. We rushed to a 7/11 store nearby to pick up some bread and other bakery items for dinner.

Day 3:

The enthusiasm woke us up early and post breakfast we were at the Harbour front getting ready for Sentosa. A little touristy fleecing – we ended  up buying an expensive ticket that had few rides and a guide service in it, we would have settled for a little cheaper ‘all rides inclusive day pass’ instead – if we had known where to buy it. L. Anyways taking things in our stride, we enjoyed what we were entitled to like the ‘Cine Magic – log ride’, butterfly park, maritime museum, the underwater world, the Dolphin show etc., we bought tickets for the other rides that we wanted to do like the 3D game show, 4D show, Merlion visit. Watching the dolphins was dream come true for the girls (esp the oldest one). The cable car visit to the island was breathtaking and we enjoyed our privacy up there.  Riding a MRT back to Little India – Indian dinner. We walked back to our hotel in spite of the girls protesting.

Day 4:

This day was dedicated to the Bird park. We took a MRT to Boon Lay and a bus from there to reach the bird park, I had expected to complete the park by early noon, but the shows and the time spend in the Aviaries ensured that this was a almost full day affair, we finished sooner than our normal times and repeated the same evening ritual of Little India – Indian dinner and Walk back.

Day 5:

By now, one may expect to get tired and take things slowly. Luckily we do not qualify for that. We were more energetic than day 1 and this was another action packed day. We took a MRT to Harbour front and walked up the Broad walk to reach Universal Studios. This was a ‘one ticket all rides’ entrance. We enjoyed all the 19 rides on offer except two - sing along the shrek and rock climbing. I would rate transformers as the best 4D show I have ever seen. It was out of the world, so were the dueling roller coasters. The all dark ‘Return of the Mummy’ ride was scary. My younger one missed a few rides, for she is a little short in her current height for some rides. Elder one was daddy’s girl, boldly enjoyed all the rides.

Day 6 & 7:

I was at office attending meetings and some very exciting trainings. The girls were busy shopping, they went around China town, Orchard road, the mandatory Mustafa and Little India shopping. End of day 7, we returned back to reality, it was the best 7 days of our lives and something that we will not forget soon (till our next holiday).