Hi All
Sorry this JBR is very very late but I figured better late than never. Unfortunately because so much time has passed between holiday and JBR I have forgotten some of the smaller details ie how much certain things cost and where we went.
Spent 10 days in Singapore with Hubby, almost 3 year old son, 1 year old daughter and mother in law so my JBR will mostly focus on getting the kids around but hope all enjoy it. This was me and hubbys second trip to Singapore and first trip for kids. Last holiday was 8 days in Thailand – 6 adults and six month old son so this holiday was a lot different half the number of adults and twice as many kids! It was a very busy holiday as I’m used to packing a lot into each day and you just can’t do that when you travel with kids (especially little ones). This was a last minute holiday thanks to a fantastic AU$700 SYD – SIN airfare from Singapore Airlines and my hubby able to take time off work. My mother in law at first was not able to join us but her plans were cancelled last minute (Afternoon of Friday 23/10) and she was on the flight before ours on Sunday 25/10. Thank goodness she could make it because it would have been a lot harder without an extra pair of hands. While Singapore has a fantastic public transport system I knew we would have to catch a taxi at least twice. Legally children must be in approved child restraints in private vehicles but are not required to in taxis. I figured we would catch taxis to/from airport and between hotels and did not take my child seats. As it was we caught taxis just about everywhere because they are so cheap and convenient and used the MRT once so in retrospect I should have considered taking the seats more carefully.
Day 1
Delayed 2 hours in Sydney - of course this is when kids slept. Flight uneventful. Son had own seat and I had daughter on lap and hubby took over a few times. Kids were pretty good. Should have arrived at 17.40 but because of delay arrived at 19.30 which was 22.30 Sydney time, once again kids were pretty good considering how late it was. Double pram was soaked as was every pram/stroller on flight due to heavy rain in Sydney just before we left, at least nappies prevent kids feeling wet bottoms. Breezed through immigration and customs. Caught a limo cab from airport to Amara Sanctuary Resort on Sentosa Island. Fare was about SGD23 within SGD1 to what was quoted on worldtaximeter.com. Great website to get idea of taxi fares worldwide. Drove past casino building site. It doesn’t look like it will be ready by March ’10 then drove past Resorts World building site incorporating Universal Studios, Casino and Hotels on Sentosa which should also be finished by March ’10. Also doesn’t look that close to being finished. Check in at hotel was easy and off to our room on the 2nd floor with mother in law next door. Unable to get connecting rooms at last minute but that was ok. She was in a king room and we had twin room but beds pushed together made very large bed big enough for 4! Room was large and had a large bathroom with separate shower with hand held head and rain shower head and deep bath. Had a proper cot for daughter in room and sofa for son but of course we all ended up together each night. Called mother in law to come over and popped the kids in the bath while hubby ordered room service. Burgers and fries arrived and kids ate about 4 fries before they fell asleep and burgers had egg with runny yolk that ran all over burger and chips - not very nice. Ate and went to sleep exhausted but so happy to be in Singapore.
Day 2
We were up early and after getting everyone dressed and covered head to foot in sunscreen and packing day bag we were off before 9am. Headed to Palawan beach for breakfast at the food court and then caught the tram to Fort Siloso. We paid SGD8 each adult and caught the tram up the hill to tour the remains of the Fort and the displays were very interesting and we were able to enjoy the air conditioning as we read the displays. Note: if you have a stroller do not go through tunnel A – my husband walked through tunnel B with our son and as there weren’t many stairs we decided to all walk through tunnel A, while we enjoyed the view from the island out to sea we had to go up and down steep stairs. We then made our way down the hill to the surrender chamber (also very interesting with the surrender re-creations) and gift shop and waited for the tram to take us the rest of the way down the hill. We caught the tram to Palawan beach and had lunch at the food court before heading back to the hotel for a swim. The swim was so relaxing my daughter fell asleep in her water ring. After our swim we showered and dressed and headed back down to Palawan beach (no not for dinner) to catch the tram to the Songs of the Sea show. We couldn’t actually get on the tram so we walked to the main junction(not even 10 minutes). We bought tickets for the later show (around 9pm) and then caught the tram to the pizzeria at Siloso Point which was nice but a bit overpriced. We just made it back in time for the show and it was fantastic! It’s a light, sound, live action, water and pyrotechnic show that went for about half hour. I highly recommend the show, even making the trip to Sentosa just for the show. We decided against catching the tram back and making the trek up the hill, instead caught the bus along the main road. Home and to bed a bit late.
Day 3
We arranged to check out of the Amara at 2pm today and headed down to Palawan Beach food court for breakfast and then caught the tram to Dolphin Lagoon for the 11am show. The Dolphin show was pretty good and they have a dophin encounter afterwards but you have to book a spot before the show as its very popular and fills up quickly - I know because I missed out, oh well, maybe next time. After the show we caught the bus to Underwater World and we all really enjoyed it. My son had a close encounter with a stingray who thought he was going to feed him. The stingray came out of the water and my son had nowhere to go as he was leaning over the tank and my husband was behind him so he was wedged between the tank and my husband. He must have got quite a fright! Enjoyed looking at all the fish and the moving underwater walkway. This is the first underwater aquarium I've been to so I don't have any reference/ anything to compare it to but I imagine its just as good as Sydney Aquarium and probably half the price at SGD23 including entry into Dolphin Lagoon. We ate lunch at Hot Dog King at Point Siloso and then returned to the Amara to finish packing and check out. Since we were there for only 2 Days I didn't really unpack so quickly chucked everything in the bags and went down to reception. Checked out and waited for the Maxi taxi we ordered earlier. I think it cost us SGD40 or 45 which was almost double what it would have cost for 2 taxis but it was much more convenient and was not a bad price by Sydney standards. The driver put on a cartoon DVD for the kids so they were happy and it was a pretty quick journey to Orchard Parksuites. The location was fantastic - across the road from Ion Shopping Centre and Wisma Atria and Food Republic, easy access to Orhcard MRT (via Ion or street level) and directly behind Orchard Rd. Check in was easy we had a two bed apartment on the 2nd floor with only the laundry next door so it was comforting to know we wouldn't be disturbing anyone no matter how loud we got. The apartment also had 2 bathrooms, good size kitchen, balcony and good size lounge/dining - plenty of room for the kids to run around and to park all our stuff. Unpacked all our bags as we were staying there for 8 days and then headed out for dinner. We made our way down Orchard Rd toTakashimaya and ended up at Food Republic and ate at the Thai restaurant. Food was good. Headed back down to Takashimaya to get some groceries for the apartment and snacks for the kids. Walked back to the apartment, at least it was underground from Takashimaya to Wisma Atria and then we were only outside for 5 minutes but of course the walk back seemed a lot longer than the walk there especially with 2 tired kids and bags of groceries. Very happy to get back to the apartment and sleep.
Day 4
Woke up and had the continental breakfast at the apartments. We were able to sit a table for 5 and the breakfast was pretty good. This was only one of two mornings we were able to get a table inside for all of us. The breakfast provided was sufficient though lacking in variety and the seating inadequate, especially for families of four or more. In hindsight we would have been better off buying cereal, bread and sausages and making our own breakfast. This is the only complaint I have about Orchard Parksuites.
After breakfast we wandered down to Paragon and checked out the shops. I have to admit we were dazzled by all the designer stores along Orchard and in the malls, Paragon was no exception. On the fourth floor (I think) they have all kids clothing stores and a play area. My husband watched the kids in the play area as my mother in law and I looked at all the shops I mean all the shops on that floor. Didn't make any purchases but then met my husband and we went up to Toys R Us for a look around. We didn't go to the larger Toys R Us on Orchard. Had lunch at Lucky Plaza great variety and cheap as, I couldn't help myself - me and the kids had McDonalds and the spicy McChicken was very nice and then some souvenir shopping in the basement of Lucky Plaza. By this time it was late afternoon and we had started looking in the windows of nail salons and my husband suggested we get our nails done while he took the kids back to the room - provided we bring dinner home with us. A fair deal we agreed and my mother in law and I had a mani/pedi at SGD60 and on our way back to the apartment we picked up four dishes from Food Opera at Ion for about SGD30 which I thought was pretty good. returned and ate our dinner and to bed.
Day 5
got up, got ready, had breakfast and headed out or rather headed underground as far as we could go but had to come out at ground level outside Takashimaya as this is where the underground connections ended and we crossed the road and headed to the Singapore Visitors Centre (via the bank to change money yes I know not only changing money on Orchard Rd but in a bank as well - we only changed a few hundred as we knew the rate we got wouldn't be good). If you're in Singapore and are looking for something to do head to the Singapore Visitors Centre for some ideas and help from the centre staff. We picked a few flyers and then headed next door to the Hippo Centre and bought a 2 day pass for SGD63 which included 2 days unlimited rides on the 2 hop on hop off buses, entry on the Singapore Flyer and Duck Tour (amphibious vehicle) and entry for about 8 other attractions. It is SGD63 alone for the Singapore Flyer and Duck Tour so the other tickets were a bonus! This was the first time we had to pay for our (almost 3 year old) son. We had to pay SGD2 for a seat on the Duck Tour. We bought our tickets and waited for the bus outside the Singapore Visitor Centre and we didn't have to wait long. The buses are double decker topless buses that are stroller friendly ie can wheel it on and off the bus and leave it open while travelling on the bus. We considered catching the Singapore Airlines bus but it is not stroller friendly. We rode the Hippo bus to Suntec City (the main terminal for city & heritage bus tours and Duck tours). We booked the Duck Tour and had lunch in the Suntec City food court and as it was actually lunchtime it was mayhem but we found a table to share with one other lunchtime diner and we all ordered lunch one at a time as you do with little ones. Lunch was a little rushed as we had booked the Duck Tour so we ate and hurried off to the meeting point. We left our stroller at the tour desk and boarded the Duck. Our son was very excited about going on a bus that goes in the water and the Duck Tour was very good. Our guide was full of information and kept the commentary interesting and light and it was unique touring on an amphibious vehicle. We all really enjoyed this tour and when we returned to Suntec City we caught the City bus to the Singapore Flyer. We were met by Hippo tour representative and then exchanged our voucher for a ticket on the Singapore Flyer. When we arrived it had started raining and by the time we reached the deck entry it had started to storm so the Flyer was closed temporarily. We went back down to the bus stop and caught the next city bus and did a full city tour loop which took about an hour to return to the Flyer and by this time the weather had cleared and we all went up. One full loop of the Flyer takes about half an hour and the view was fantastic, unfortunately it was a bit cloudy. After the Flyer we had a quick bite to eat downstairs at the fast food chicken restaurant (can’t remember the name) and then caught the last city bus to Orchard Rd opposite Ion shopping mall. It was less than a 5 min walk to our apartment and we were all very happy to shower/bath and relax before bedtime.
Day 6
Usual morning routine. This was the second and last day of our hippo bus pass, so we caught the city hippo bus out the front of Tangs (opposite Ion and about 5 min walk from apartment) to Suntec City and then transferred to the Heritage bus. We rode the bus to Raffles Hotel and had a look around the hotel, shop and the museum, decided against coming back for Sunday Brunch at SGD180pp and instead headed up to the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling (or two for some.) We also ordered some snacks as we hadn't stopped for lunch and I was glad to see other groups with children and babies in the Long Bar. When the first round arrived, my son wanted to know where his was so the barman made a virgin sling and that (and the peanuts and snacks) kept him happy. At SGD23++ for a Singapore Sling this was an expensive treat for us but we enjoyed it. We caught the hippo to Clarke Quay and went on the Hippo river cuise which was very good. We were able to get the stroller on and off with my daughter in it and she enjoyed the cruise from the stroller. We had already been on the river the day before but we saw it from the quay area. The river cuise was also included in the SGD63 2 day ticket. We decided to have an early dinner at Clarke Quay and as my husband had missed out the first time we were there, we ate at Hooters. The food was ok though overpriced but the service was good and the waitresses entertained the kids. So it was an expensive lunch and dinner but we had an enjoyable day. After dinner we walked under the canopy which was being decorated for Halloween the following night and caught a taxi back to the apartments, showers and baths and off to bed.
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