3D2N: Walk Singapore

Now that the kids are bigger, it is time to up the bar and travel in less. Every member is equipped with a backpack to keep their personal belongings. Everything is kept at minimum with no check-in luggage. How did we fare?

DAY 1: Arrival

We took AirAsia and arrived in Changi Airport. The first thing I want to see was the Kinetic Rain Scupture in Changi Airport.

 We stood there for at least half an hour. It is so fascinating to watch.

Happens that it was the Pokemon Mania season. The kids are equipped with a camera each. They had fun snapping away and it is interesting to look at things through their angle.

 Not knowing the ways well. We decided on the train from the airport to our hotel (Swissotel Merchant Court). 

Kids with own bags studying up the routes of the train. 

 After checking in, we rested for a while and off we went for the Michelin starred chicken rice. The hotel is a walking distance from the Chinatown's Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle. The queue was crazy (Singapore = queue). By the time our turn came, there were no more rice. So we ordered noodles. The noodles were springy and the chicken smooth and succulent. A bit oily, but that's how the chicken turns out smooth and soft.

 From Chinatown, we took a bus directly to Orchard Street. Not so much for shopping but sightseeing, as it is the year end and Orchard Road is famous for its decorative Christmas lights. We walked from one end to the other, taking in the crowd, the performances and decorations. When we got tired, we went into Japan Food Town in Wisma Atria (http://www.japanfoodtown.sg/directory/). If we came without the kids, we would have made a stop at the Japanese Bars. But we rested at Inaniwa Yosuke (Udon specialty of Akita Prefecture). We are not a big fan of thick udon so this thin udon fits our palate just nice. If you like cold noodles, try the one that comes with half boiled egg. Yummay!

Too tired, we took the double decker bus that go back to the Orchard Road stretch and straight to our hotel.

End-day 1 report: Pedometer recorded 20,000 steps for the day.

DAY 2: The objective 

The sole purpose of this short trip is focussed on Gardens by the Bay.

 We start off our day with Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice, which was just across the street from our hotel. We had wanted to go down slightly further to  Song Fa Bak Kut Teh but the Singapore queue put us off. It was quite a mistake. The curry rice was pretty disappointing. 

We then walk along the river front to Clarke Quay to catch a river taxi to Gardens by the Bay. The kids made a pit stop for Tsujiri Matcha Ice Cream. The cashier recommended Shiratama Parfait (O-Matcha). We shared among us. Nice.

 The river taxi took us from Clarke Quay to Gardens Mall. Then it is a short walk across to Gardens by the Bay.

 Our first stop is the Far East Organisation Children's Garden. Let the kids run and cool off. When they are done, we walked along the bayfront towards Satay by the Bay. We chose to sit outside under the sun & wind. Very relaxing.

We then walked to the Cloud Forest. Along the way, we explored the many sculptures in the gardens.

Cloud Forest

(Note: Bring along jackets)

It was very educational and fun in the cloud forest. Though not a lot of variety and species, but at least some explanation on the height and plant type. The floor on crystals were pretty boring. What impressed us was the Black Box that explains on the Gardens self sustainability through renewable energy. The kids was much affected by the visual on +5 Degrees. 

 

Flower Dome

The dome is segregated by plants from the different continents of the world. We could have spent a few more hours here, but we were late after taking our own sweet time in the other parts of the Gardens.

Some of the wood sculptures displayed were grand.

 There are special area displaying seasonal themes of the dome. This year's Christmas theme is The Nutcracker. The lights and real christmas plants were great for photos. 

Christmas Special: Christmas Wonderland 2016

Part of the open area of the Gardens was cordoned off for Christmas Special. We have to pay additional SGD6 per person. Glad we did.

Super Grove Trees were impressive at night. 

The kids remembered them and kept talking about them until now.

Surrounded by Italian Luminarie light sculptures

The highlight for the kids were the snow blizzards

As we walk back, we came across this big baby sculpture. Came back and did some search to find out that this piece is named "Planet" by nternationally acclaimed British artist Marc Quinn

End-day 2 report: Pedometer recorded another 20,000 steps for the day. 

Day 3: Head back

Add caption

Bye.. The kids enjoyed it. They wish to come back. Will probably plan on a trip to the Science Centre next. We'll see..

Additional things to note: 

1. If you are Malaysian, I got a good deal for the tickets to the Domes in the Matta Fair. Just so you know.
2. The domes closes once a while for maintenance purposes. Make sure to check the dates before you visit.