Singapore
Loved Singapore. We stayed at the Grande Mercure and that was very nice . The first day we just relaxed. Got to the hotel at around 2 p.m. (they have an airport shuttle) and Emma couldn’t wait to go swimming. So we checked out the swimming pool and an hour of pool fun triggered our hunger. After getting cleaned up, we went to the hawker stalls across the street. Had one of the best spring rolls and the cheapest bubble tea ($S1 or $.75 US) ever. I should have gotten more but really shouldn’t… watching my figure ya know :D We walked around, crossed the street (through an underground walkway) to the East Side Beach and for the first time Emma played on the beach. She had a really great time and we will go again, maybe Mexico. Since it was our first day and Indonesia has been a trip, we went back to the hotel, ordered dining service, and went to bed.
The next morning we got breakfast at a bakery near the hawker’s stall. It was across the way from McDonalds. They were all interesting looking but we picked a few, went to McDonald’s area to sit (I wanted to check out their free wi-fi), got some coffee (there was good coffee next to McD and if you want a Starbucks across the street), and relaxed. The baked good were very good. Cost us $S7 or so and we were quite happy. The wi-fi didn’t work out too well. I never got an SMS message with my password. Darn!
We had to move to another hotel that day. I couldn’t reserve anymore days at the Mercure. They’re all booked, maybe a conference or something, unless you want to super deluxe hotels. Well, we didn’t want to pay $200+/night so we left and got a room at Bencoolen Hotel, right smack in the middle of town. Not as nice as the Mercure but still clean and very convenient (the Mercure was near the airport). After we got our room (the doorman was super sweet, Aman) we walked to Sim Lim center or something like that to see if we can get a deal on zoom lenses. After going to a few different ones we found one who would sell us a lens for a deal (cheaper than Amazon). So got a new lens and some accessories and of course a bigger bag. That was pretty much the extent of our shopping in Singapore. Oh we bought clothes here and there but nothing major.
Then we walked to little India and I was hoping to be hungry but we had too much for lunch so couldn’t check out the Banana Leaf restaurant that people’s raving about. Quite disappointed there. We made took the MRT and went to Clarke Quay. We wanted to take the boat ride down the river. It was late afternoon so the place was quiet. We walked around the area before and sat down at one of the restaurant for a drink. I asked for water and I really just meant tap water but they had to give me the most expensive bottle water I have ever drank. Small glass bottle for $S7… or about $4.70 or so… or $S14 because we asked for two… I figured a glass for me and Emma while Drew drinks his beer. Oh well…
A funny thing happened here. In the middle of the restaurants is a water fountain and [thumb:1339:l] Emma LOVES water fountains. So she played and I took pictures… playing with the new lens. Out of nowhere a group of Japanese tourist past by. I saw one take a picture of Emma. Then one lady came down (I was kneeling down) to me and asked if she can take a picture with Emma. I said sure and EVERYBODY wanted a picture with Emma. OMG, I thought the paparazzi where there attacking my kid! Then there’s Emma, just posing for the camera. I’m just glad we’re, or my kid, isn’t famous, it was quite chaotic and weird.
After that we went on our boat ride. Quite nice and we got to see some nice buildings, like the Fullerton Hotel. We also saw a place we’d like to eat, the Boat Quay. I took pictures of what I thought was interesting and just enjoyed the evening. Then off to dinner and we were in for a surprise. There are many restaurants at Boat Quay and they make different types of food. Which was all great. What we didn’t know was that there will be people from each restaurant greeting us as we pass by telling us what their specials were and the deal that they can give us if we eat there. Going through 20 (maybe more) restaurants, I insisted on walking to the end to see what all are available, was a bit much when every few steps you have to get rid of the restaurant employee/owner. After we saw them all, we went back and chose one. One that had a seat by the river and had Singapore food. The restaurant was really good and we got to see the many people getting harassed and how to avoid being asked: walk VERY quickly! I guess if you walk quick it kind of shows them that you’re not hungry? Just a guess :D But if you were like us, lingering and looking, they knew that we were hungry tourists. The food was really good, more expensive than a restaurant off the river (we found out later) but I guess we were paying for the ambiance. Overall good dinner though we could have done without all them people who tries to lure you in.
Then we walked to Chinatown. It was a good five minutes walk and it was a good way [thumb:1345:l] to burn some calories. Chinatown was lit up. They are getting ready for some festival and so it was quite colorful. We got on the main road where they sell food and merchandise and I had to stop and buy Emma a little china dress. It was super cute, not sure how strong it is, but for $S10, it wasn’t bad. I should have bought some more souvenirs but we’ve never been the type so we forgot.
We weren’t motivated to walk back to our hotel. It was late and we have been walking a lot, so we took the bus. We would have to just walk straight to our hotel but really, too tired. When we got back to our street, we stopped at a coffee house, oh I forgot what it was called… Starbucks-ish, and got some drinks and used the FREE Internet. When we got to our hotel, we just went right to bed.
The next day after breakfast we just walked around to see what the rest of Singapore was like. Walked to the Raffles hotel and thought it’d be big and great but it was small from the outside. It might be big inside and full of history but not much to see from the outside compare to the Fullerton. We ended up in this mall not far from there and did some shopping and got a drink and some cendol. Cendol is an Indonesia dessert. Drew couldn’t have any there so he got to taste it in Singapore and really liked it. From the mall we took the MRT to Orchard Rd. We went to the malls, I guess it’s a must since you’re there, and ended up watching Emma at a little amusement area.