Our thinking behind a stop in Singapore was partly because we had always wanted to visit and partly because we were able to fly directly to Macau from there. We had the opportunity to visit Singapore over four years ago, but it wasn’t in the budget after a year on the road. We only had two nights this time around, however, the prices had only gone up.
I had been saving ‘Air Mile’ points for over three years in St. John’s. The goal was to pay for some future flights. The points would also work for hotels. I discovered there were only two hotels in Singapore that would take these points. They were both six star hotels and because of this, I only had enough for one night. We decided to go for it and pay for one night there.
This was far and away the nicest hotel we have stayed. The hotel did not have a regular airport shuttle service, but you could arrange a Bentley for pickup. Due to our luggage we needed to take two smaller taxis (certainly not the Bentleys) from the airport. Liam and Michael went in one and Maeve and I were in the other. We had a lovely ride. We knew while Singapore was expensive, many things were highly regulated like the taxis. Our driver was older and slightly bitter that he needed to continue to work at the age of 70.
Michael and Liam, however, had an entirely different experience. Their driver did not seem well. His driving was erratic and he mumble to himself. On top of that, he went to the wrong hotel after acknowledging written and verbal directions. Our driver was beeping at him and tried to flag him over to our side. It was sorted out quickly, but the guys were fuming when they arrived. It was the worst taxi experience of the summer and it happened in Singapore ironically.
All of that frustration was washed away once we got to our room. It was amazing. There were buttons for the curtains, black out shades and an assault proof door like you’d see on a vault. The bathroom had an enormous tub with a television in the mirror and the shower was the best I had ever experienced. The pressure was perfect and there were side jets everywhere. It was still a small room, but we loved it. No one wanted to leave.
After ample time of feeling like a royal, we ventured out to find some dinner. We were in the shopping district where malls and high end shops were plentiful. We checked out a lot of restaurants, some were loud or outside (it was quite hot) and many were too expensive for a casual bite. We ended up circling back to a Jamie Oliver restaurant. Overall, it was overrated for what we had, but it did the trick. When we returned, we decided to go for an evening swim in the luxurious hotel pool. It was a lovely time, reminiscent of when the children were younger and wanted to spend time playing with us in the pool.
For our only full day in Singapore, we planned to do the hop on, hop off bus tour. I really wanted to see the famous signature Singapore hotspots, but our usual plan was to ride the route and then decide where we wanted to spend more time.
We completed the main route and jumped on anther route with the plan of stopping in Little India for lunch. We knew there were hawker stands with great food. When we got out it felt like we had actually entered another country. We were definitely outsiders, but we felt completely welcomed by everyone. There were so many stands, it was difficult to choose. I would have gone with the longest line due to demand indicating quality, but we didn’t have the patience. We found someone who had a nice vegetarian plate and ordered. Seating was communal. People made room for all of us and one woman even offered up her tissues for napkins. Another person made sure we had drinks. It was lovely for a few minutes. Then Maeve ate something that caused a reaction. Indian food can be known for cashews and other nuts, but we made sure to ask that what we ordered didn’t have nuts. I think she bit into a cardamom pod, but I’m not sure. Maeve and I left the area quickly so she could get some fresh air. The guys met us outside and it became evident that we weren’t going to finish the tour. We tried to get a taxi back to our hotel, but that turned out to be a bit of an ordeal as well as the man running the taxi stand grabbed another guy and held him in a headlock until he could escape. The only violence we witnessed on our summer trip was in Singapore which I thought would have been the safest of all of the destinations.
Maeve was able to rest back at the comfort of our hotel. We got her some medicine and I ran out and got some Sprite in the hopes of settling her stomach. We all just chilled for a bit. Knowing Maeve was okay and that we couldn’t finish the bus tour, Michael and I decided to head out to see the Botanical Gardens. We were told it was a 15 minute walk from our hotel…just down the street. We figured we could at least visit something before dinner. About 25 minutes later, the gardens were nowhere in site. We did walk around a very exclusive neighborhood lined with mansions with glass fences exhibiting supercars in their driveways. We realized we weren’t going to find the gardens, so we wandered a bit more and decided to head back to have dinner with the kids by the pool. On the way back we saw where we should have turned (so not just down the street), but it was too late.
In the end, we didn’t see much of Singapore as I had hoped. Perhaps we will return to see more. This entire trip was more about spending time together in interesting places before starting out in a new country. However, on our way to the airport, I made sure we had some extra time to check out the Jewel Mall attached to the airport. I had heard so much about this place. It has the largest indoor waterfall named The Rain Vortex which was incredible. There was a canopy park which included a sort of cloud forest walk on a suspension bridge. There were gardens and mazes and climbing areas for children. This was definitely a ‘must see’ and I was happy we were able to check something off the list.
Three new countries added and we were headed to a fourth…our new home.