Singapore

Now that we have been back from Singapore for nearly 6 weeks, I figured I better get pics up before I start forgetting things.

We left Kuala Lumpur super early for our flight to Singapore- the idea was so that we could have the whole day in Singapore, but it really just made us all tired and grouchy for the first half of the day. The flight it only about an hour long, so by the time you're at cruising altitude, you pretty much start descending right away. On the drive from the airport to the hotel we got our first impression of the country. Since airports are usually a way from the city there's not much in between it and the city, this was also true in Singapore, but the difference was that all that empty space was immaculately cultivated garden and parks. We found this to be a good idea of what we'd find in the city as well.

Our hotel was like a mini resort on the outskirts of the city. Apart from the hotel there was a casino and a maze of high end shops and restaurants. The three pillars house the hotel rooms and on top (the boat looking thing) there is a huge infinity pool, lots of hot tubs, a few restaurants and plenty of space to relax.  We immediately took a nap when we got checked in, since we had all been up at 4am. The rest of the day we spent the rest of the day checking out the pool (but as soon as the kids got in it started raining) and the exploring the city. There are really no suburbs to Singapore, just a big city with different regions.

 Chinatown in Singapore seemed fairly small till we started turning off the main street and lost our bearings (and sometimes each other). There were a few cool buildings, like the one above as well as some Hindu temples. But of course, Chinatown was mostly about selling cheap stuff. The kids got a few fun items to keep them entertained and happy as Chris and I wandered. I felt like that was the theme of our trip to Singapore, wandering. There aren't many sights that you just have to see, but there are lots of cool areas that are fun to wander around. Orchard Road is one of the areas, it a long road with about 20 shopping centers as well as a few hotels.

 Clarke Quay is another region of the city, where we had dinner a few nights. It is set right along the river and has every type of restaurant you could want. We ate at an Indian restaurant one night and had some of the best Butter Chicken I've ever had (and I've had a LOT, it what we always order!)

 One evening we took a boat ride down the river, which gave us a fun and different view of the city at night.

 Back at our hotel, breakfast was one of the highlights each day. Especially for the kids! The LOVED the huge variety of food. Caleb took a liking to congee, an asian hot cereal made from rice which pretty much has no flavor. They serve it topped with tofu, seaweed, or nuts, but Caleb liked it plain.

 The pool on top of our hotel was amazing It's an infinity pool and the kids kept saying that no way would they go over to the edge. But once Chris went over there with them they assured me that it;s not that scary (there is of course a huge spillover area a few feet down).

 The pool up there definitely gave us the best view of the whole city. Although it was pretty chilly, I made it in once and we were lucky to coax Caleb to get in at all. Ellie, being the fish that she is, jumped right in.

 Caleb (and I) preferred to soak up the warm sun and enjoy the view.