We just returned from a wonderful mini-vacation to Singapore. We took the night train on Friday night, knowing that could either work out brilliantly with the kids, or be a very bad decision... Luckily it was somewhere in between.
The train left at 10.30pm and we had booked tickets for the 2nd class sleeper. The plus of traveling by train is that we didn’t have to buy a ticket for Lorelei, unlike traveling by airplane when we pay full price for her. The train was filled with bunk beds on either side in the length of the train and we had two lower berths, facing each other. You can pull a curtain around the bed for some privacy and with the movement of the train and the white noise it didn’t take long for the kids to nod off. Apart from them waking up once in a while because of the frequent stops or listening to a Chinese guy above you passing gass in his sleep the journey wasn’t too bad and we arrived in Singapore at 7.30am in relatively good shape.
After having had a quick shower at our hotel we were ready to hit the city. We spent most of the first day around Orchard Road which is a major shopping district where we found lots of Japanese stationery for our store, so we have an excuse to go back again soon!
Singapore is a city, a country and an island in one and it is very rich and developed which shows when you’re walking around. We’d already heard it is one of the cleanest places in the world (where chewing gum is forbidden and you can get a fine for not flushing a public toilet – although how they would enforce that, I don’t know..). It wasn’t as pristine as I expected though, which is a good thing. Everything is extremely well organised and the public transport is incredibly efficient. All taxis are very clean and spacious, unlike the dodgy and grimy ones we come across here in KL. Singapore is a lot more expensive than most Asian countries though and in a way it seems the perfect combination between East and West.
On Sunday we started off by going to the Singapore Zoo which is known to be one of the best zoos in the world. There are no gates or fences, which is very unusual. Instead the places where the animals roam are separated from the public by water or you can see them from behind big glass partitions or look down from long walkways suspended above a jungle. The chimpanzees walk around freely and hang from trees above you.
There was also a big water park for the kids which was a welcome break with temperatures close to the 40s.
In the afternoon we went to the Singapore Botanical Gardens which is one of the main hang out spots in the weekend. It’s a beautiful spacious park with a Children’s Garden and a Kidz Cafe where we spent most of our time. We met there with Shizuka, my dear friend from Japan whom I met in Canada and who now lives in Singapore. It was so nice to see her again and catch up on lost times.
We took a taxi together to Little India where her Canadian husband joined us. We enjoyed a wonderful Indian meal with yummy butter chicken, murg tikka massala, lots of naan bread, poppadums and great company. We also walked around in Little India, which I picture to be just like the real India, only cleaner. Lots and lots of Indian people standing on the street, and Bollywood music blaring from brightly coloured stores.
After a quick pit stop at our hotel to pick up our luggage and to freshen up a bit, we headed to the main station again to catch our 10.15pm train. This time the children were already used to the surroundings, so they both slept for the entire ride, including when we had to get off after an hour to go through customs and both had a sleeping baby in our arms (once noticeably heavier than the other one).
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur again at 7am the next morning and after a pancake and Egg McMuffin breakfast at McDonalds we dropped Lorelei and Quinn off at school before heading home ourselves.
Although it was a short trip, we really had a good time and Singapore made quite the impression on us. We’ll definitely plan to do another trip like this before we leave!
P.S. The longer version of the video of the Lion Dance that I wrote about last time can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSth-rEUpIA
