Singapore

🎶🎶 Singing Tour – a Swimming Tour: Starting in Singapore.

/ brisbanefrannie / 3 Comments

We decided on an overnight in Singapore. To break the journey. Is it worth it ?

I am starting to love my visits to Singapore. Having recently been with Pete and 5 year old Ollie I feel I’m getting to know it a little.

We stayed at Capri by Fraser. In Chinatown Square a block from the Mecure where we stayed last time. I love this area. Lots of good food markets, interesting little streets and with the train you can get everywhere quickly.

The taxi from the airport was quick and efficient and we were in the hotel in 45 mins. Cost $31.

Drummed the bags , a quick change into some cooler clothes and off to the Lau Pa Sat food markets with its infamous Satay Street. Always busy it’s great for a quick meal under fans ……with a big beer. Also a major people watching place. There are piles of plates on every table, amazing smells and locals hunched over

Our hotel is great but we don’t usually include breakfast. We like to go out away from buffet breakfasts. We went to a cafe nearby m. Had a great coffee and watched the passing parade on their way to work. They all wear comfortable shoes and the girls often carry a little portable fan.

Cafe for breakfast

At first I thought one girl had an ice cream. But it was a little battery run fan. It looked funny. Can’t say I blame her. It’s very steamy.

I wanted to walk around some of the quiet narrow streets of China Town. We discovered a little oasis of greenery. Very quiet and a bit different to the big broad streets with traffic.

Hidden walkways in Chinatown

Singapore has sorted out lots of problems associated with dense living! They charge a fortune to have a private car on the road so it does limit car traffic. I can’t imagine if they allowed anyone to drive a car. It would be at a standstill.

I had checked before booking that our hotel offered a baggage hold after checkout and then use of showers later in the day. My new best friend at the concierge desk took our bags and we set off walking. It was a little overcast so bearable.

We crossed the river towards Parliament and the arts precinct.

New building vs old on opposite sides of the river

Some beautiful buildings lots of shady trees and places to sit or go inside to some aircon.

I checked out the Fullerton Hotel. It’s a beauty but would cost $$$. Lovely for a visit or a cool drink.

Zig zagging across the walking bridges we went back to the arts area

The Fullerton Hotel with Marina Sands behind it.
Another lovely gallery with a Pagoda exhibition
The Arts Festival is in full swing.
Statues are everywhere – this outside the Fire Museum.

Lots of walking led to a big thirst so we stopped at Clarke Quay for lunch. A beer and prawns by the water under a fan. Perfect.

We’re now at the airport. Being early to a flight in no problem in Singapore. The amazing ‘The Jewel’ is adjacent to Terminal 1&2 and easy to access from terminal 3 , it is the perfect place to spend time.

There is a great big waterfall in the centre with lots of seating. Not too comfortable as people would lie down. I certainly wanted to!

I was here 6 weeks ago with son Peter and grandson Ollie and he did the dinosaur hunt.

The attraction for kids this month young and old is Mario Kart.

Now the big flight to London. Lucky we’re in business! Soul Song choir here I come.

A Day in Adventure World at Legoland

/ brisbanefrannie / 7 Comments
Ollie in chefs outfit for decorating a donut

We all slept well in our adventure wonderland and hit the breakfast buffet at 8.30 to fuel up for the trip to the theme park today.

Breakfast is pandemonium : lots of mums, dads, doting Nani’s and a posse of kids mostly under 12. The buffet caters for the tastes of Malays, Chinese, Indian and assorted other nationalities. Families tucking into rice dishes, curries, sugary chocolate cereals. Our Ollie went straight to the egg station. He got his 3 scrambled eggs. I had an omelette. Pete had curry and roti. Something he had grown to like when living in in KL. Coffee out of a machine had to do for my 1 cup a day coffee fix.

Lego men at each of the food stations.

Thumping music greeted us at the gates to Adventure World. We were there for the warm up session at the main stage. Then the countdown started. We joined in with the excited crowd : fireworks and the gates opened.

Straight to the drive a boat then the driving school.

They give driving lessons and have a classroom session while they wait for their turn: then the children all get a car and drive around a miniature Lego town. Ollie chose the police car. When finished they earn a drivers license.

Pete has all the rides planned out. We did the Ninjago ride and the adventure one a bit like a Raiders of the Lost Arc.

We walked – in the heat, enjoying every minute. The rides are amazing. Ollie found his ‘brave’ and went on the roller coasters. Even I went on one after a gap of 30 odd years! Amazing what one will do for a grandchild.

Our last ride before returning to the hotel for a break and a well deserved rest, was the jet ski . You ride around a pond with spectators bombing you as you pass. We came off dripping wet which actually felt good in the heat.

Leaving, we passed the miniature worlds. All surrounding countries made out of Lego.

A bite to eat at the food mall next to our hotel then back to the room to change and rest.

Dragging ourselves off the bed we re entered the park at 4 for another two hours.

Fire engines race
Pete and Ollie pumped their engine to the fire.

A few more rides. Repeating those Ollie loved. A visit to the build-a-car section. Inside and air conditioned it was a treat.

The day finished with a huge rainstorm. We got drenched walking the 200 metres back to the hotel.

A change of clothes. Dinner and another dance party!

Bed felt so good.

Tomorrow travel back to Singapore to Changi for our flight to Penang.

A Long but Happy Day in Singapore

/ brisbanefrannie / 5 Comments

I’m sitting writing this post at Singapore Zoo. It 9.35 and Pete and Ollie are having one more walk around the night time trails and I’m admitting defeat and having a beer under a fan.

The Night Creatures show

After a long day yesterday and the night hawker markets we were up and out at 8.30 after Pete and Ollie had had a swim in the big pool. This 5 year has stamina ! Takes after me I like to think.

We had breakfast at Maxwell food markets. Ollie wanted eggs and they come half runny boiled eggs that you open into a saucer and dip toast into.

I prayed the eggs were fresh as he polished them off and drank his fresh orange juice.

Following a walk around Chinatown we got the train to the Gardens by the Bay. These gardens are spectacular. It was hot walking along the river to get to the gardens but once there it was an oasis. Cool inside with multi levels you start at the top and walk down gradually.

Planning our visit to the gardens

There’s a magnificent water fall, crystal gardens, a forest room. All beautifully presented and not crowded. I bought our tickets through Klook, an online discounted ticket agency.

It worked beautifully. I bought a combined ticket for the Gardens, the flower hall and the night safari at the zoo. We’re going there tonight.

Ollie loved the gardens and Pete and I are so impressed with how everything works.

We moved onto the Flowers of the World and they had a Japanese gardens exhibition. Perfect as I’m going to Japan later in the year.

In front of the cherry blossoms

The cherry blossoms exhibition was like being in Japan.

Back out side the heat was picking up. We stopped for a beer and gelato before heading into the Science Museum. the building itself is worth visiting. Shaped like a lotus flower you enter via a bridge over the most beautiful lotus flowers.

The lotus by night. From the taxi after the zoo.

There were a few paying exhibitions including the Iris Van Herpen fashion exhibition I saw last year in Brisbane.

We opted for the kids activities which kept Ollie occupied for quite awhile.

Starting to get tired.

Hunger was getting to us now so Ollie and I headed back on the blue downtown train line to the food markets where we polished off dumplings for lunch. Pete was keen to have his bone broth soup so went a bit further to another hawker market specialising in that dish. $10 he said and he couldn’t eat it all.

We met up back at the hotel for a swim in the very large hotel pool. What a treat. Into the room for a rest before our nighttime booking at the Zoo.

It rained heavily – typical tropical downpour. A bit a rumbly thunder. it was great to look at lying on bed by the huge window.

It was still rainy when we left so caught a taxi. It took nearly an hour to get there by 7pm and cost $45 Singapore. It’s well organised and I stood in the line for the night train while Pete bought some satay chicken for Ollie. He’s also hungry a lot of the time. The line took about 20 mins. Perfect timing.

We got the front three seats and had a perfect view. It was amazing. We saw animals standing quite close to where the train crept along the narrow road in the ‘jungle’

It was hard to get a good photo but we saw lions, cheetah , rhino, elephants, bison, bears, deer, the list goes on.

From the train we went to the Creatures of the Night show and saw, and owl fly in, hairy pigs, hyenas, cheetah. All visited the stage on cue to eat something planted for them then quietly leave.

The show finished around 9 and Pete and Ollie de used to walk the night loop setting once again the animals we’d seen from the train.

I sat having a beer waiting. One tired little boy and his tired dad arrived back so we made our way out to the taxi and after 5 minutes in the car Ollie fell asleep.

Singapore is quite beautiful by night.

View from the taxi.

I wasn’t far behind!