Stunning Singapore!!

The 2nd half of our CNY took us to Singapore, a quick 45 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur where we started our celebrations. We just love Singapore, you can view some posts I made about previous trips by clicking here. I think we’ve been there maybe a few more times than what I wrote, but regardless every time I go, I experience something new, which I just love.

Love the Singapore Skyline!

First evening there we found a Mexican food truck- haha!!

This time we were excited to share our love of Singapore with the kiddos. We stayed at the Fullerton Bay Hotel, in 2 side by side rooms with decks, which was AMAZING. Right on the bay, with a view of the Marina May Sands iconic hotel, we loved this smaller 100 room modern boutique hotel, which was originally an old ferry station. But don’t let me fool you, this hotel was posh and the bedrooms so nice. The rooftop infinity pool and bar wasn’t so shabby either! And a perfect location, we walked easily to many places, and just took a grab taxi everywhere else. Bonus was every afternoon we swam with the kids and cooled down after our exploring and met a lovely family from England (hey guys!!) which was so fun to let the kids all play while we enjoyed some drinks and conversation.

We had afternoon rain showers almost daily and it was so nice after all this dry Beijing air. The Fullerton Bay rooftop pool was stunning!

CNY Decor everywhere!

Goofballs!

Fullerton Bay Hotel decor was just amazing.

Singapore is such a paradise to explore- so much to do, see, and eat in such a tiny country. Singapore’s cuisine is a melting pot featuring so many amazing tastes from all over Asia. Truly you will not find a better place to sample Asia’s flavors than in Singapore. So my one request this trip was that instead of a food tour, we would, as a family, take a cooking class together! After some browsing around on TripAdvisor, I stumbled upon Food Playground and what a gem!! What stood out to me the most about this company is why it came to be and how its run. They provide opportunities and empower stay at home moms and active seniors with limited resources the ability to return to the workforce. Located in Singapore’s Chinatown, it is immersed in the local community and hosts not only in person events for travelers, corporate events, and kids camps, but also virtual events.

Food Playground Group!

Chop chop chop!!

YUMMY!!!

Team Dad & Ava!

Team Mom & Mac!!

The menu on the day we chose was Indian- we made Byriani, Masala Chicken, and Lentil Dhal- YUM!!!! They had stations for each of us as we paired up and I was so proud of the kids for their involvement and manners with the 2 other pairings who joined us- a mother/daughter duo and a brother duo, both from Australia. Watching the kids learn how to chop and cook, and then sit down and eat their creations, was such a great moment for me. It’s no secret I LOVE to cook and enjoy mixing cuisines so having my children start to learn more about how things are made, what ingredients do what, and just get tastes of different cultures through the kitchen is so filling for me! That was my 1 ask in Singapore and I think we all had a great time. It was 3 hours long including the lunch of what we made. BOTH kids asked for seconds :).

Kids learning so much!!

No blood was spilled

raw chicken grosses both of us out

they both chopped without injury!

After this we strolled around Chinatown letting our food settle and talking about the class and of COURSE ended up at an ice cream stop per kids request. David and I had these amazing iced pistachio lattes- I mean YUM! We also picked up some gorgeous chopsticks and holders at a nearby stall for us to take home. We always love using things at home that we get while on vacation.

Stunning Temple in Chinatown

I love Chinatown decor

Home away from home! 🙂

Wall painting, acting like they were apart of it- haha!

Iced pistacho lattes!

For some afternoon change of scenery, we headed over the Marina Bay Sands area to check out Gardens by the Bay and found ourselves sucked into the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome. Surprisingly for all of us, what started out as a way to chill in some air conditioning while seeing some flowers turned into a pretty awesome couple of hours. The Cloud Forest was insane- an amazing oasis housed inside this greenhouse type dome. It was full of lush tropical flowers and greenery as well as a tall waterfall and suspension bridges to check out all the different levels and angles. The Flower dome next door was equally as stunning showcasing all types of flower and fauna from each geographical area of the world. Beautiful way to spend the afternoon, definitely recommend! I am sure the Supertree Grove would have also been amazing all lit up at night but we had our fill within the couple Horus we spent there in the afternoon.

So hot and humid in front of the waterfall in The Cloud Forest

monkey-ing around

Flower Dome!

For dinner we took the kids over to Clarke Quay– a super fun area along the river with tons of different local and international cuisines and restaurant brands. We already had Indian for lunch and although we wanted to introduce the kids to Singaporean Crab, which is so freaking delicious, we could tell they were tapped out of trying “new” things for the day. We ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant and ate our way through the evening while being silly and enjoying the people watching.

We just love all of the Chine New Year decor- Clarke Quay!

Later at night we heard about a CNY drone show taking place over the water near our hotel. It was so amazing. Literally over 1,000 drones made up this dragon light show suspended in the night sky next to the Marine Bay Sands. It was super cool how they moved and created new shapes and lights. Loved it, and based on the crowds, so did everyone else!

STUNNING drone light dragon show

Stunning Marina Bay Sands

Some nice ladies we had met at the hotel pool the evening prior told us about a great little hike they went on, only a 20 minute car ride from the hotel. It was crazy David and I hadn’t heard about this before we of course we were excited to go and get some hiking in with the kids. The hike was called the MacRitchie Nature Trail  and it was fantastic. Never would have thought something that beautiful was so close to the hustle and bustle of Singapore City life. Felt like a different world! We met a really nice guy, a teacher from Canada who lives in Singapore at the start of the trail. He gave us the lowdown of what to expect and he was a great find! We ended up doing 8km, but could have done another section that would have added another 4km and had suspension bridges, but the kids were wiped, so 8km was enough. We saw what appeared to be a kimono dragon at the start….pretty sure Ava’s scream was heard countrywide, lol! We also happened upon a snake where my scream was heard countrywide, haha! Other than that just some amazing wild monkeys and a random chicken. Such a fun 3 hours with the kiddos with some awesome conversations about life.

Before we sweat our faces off!

Mac says this is a Kimono Dragon…..whatever it was, was terrifying

Not.A.Fan.Of.SNAKES

Wild chickens

Monkey Family!

Clearly we worked up an appetite and needed to introduce the kids to Singaporean hawker stalls. Since we already wandered around Chinatown we decided not to go to the famous one there called Maxwells, instead we opted for the other famous one in the city super close to our hotel called Lao Pa Sat and boy oh boy it was amazing. Tons of different cuisines housed under 1 roof- you could get something from multiple stalls, find a community table, and eat till your pants pop. Side note- we found out the hard way that Singaporeans save a table for themselves while they are in line getting food. We had no idea and I wondered why there was like, what appeared to be, trash left on tables everywhere- hahaha. People leave a package of napkins, or a subway card type thing, etc. We accidentally took someone’s table but this couple were so kind and explained that this is how Singaporeans save a seat while they wait for food. They were gracious in letting us stay at the table and found a new one. What a cool thing to learn! We decided it was time for the kids to try Hainan Chicken and Rice. Sounds simple right?! WRONG. The flavors and the scent just mouthwatering. We all devoured it, got a second helping, and were good to go….and by that I mean we hardly ate anything for dinner we were so satisfied, haha.

Hawker Stalls!!

Hainan Chicken & Rice!

Our final full day in Singapore we decided to head over to the Marina Bay Sands area again to check out the shopping mall and this cool interactive museum called the ArtScience Museum. While it was pricy and not as long nor in depth as we hoped, it was still very cool and interactive. Lots of play on light and kids even got to draw something, scan it into a tablet, and then watch it come to life on a wall and control it from another tablet. It was actually super cool. We enjoyed wandering around the mall and picking up more things we can’t find in China, and even debated taking the kids up to the top of Marina Bay Sands to the observation deck….but they didn’t want to stand in line and I couldn’t blame them. David and I have had drinks at the top of Marina Bay Sands a few times already and its stunning 360 degree views of Singapore and the ocean are magical, but would the kids appreciate it? Probably not. haha no worries they got lots of rooftop views from our hotel anyway.

Our hotel looks tiny in front of all the skyscrapers!

Something else that is hard to find in China are good fiction books in English, both for kids and adults. I found a bookstore and we all went and wandered around, Mac and I even came away with a few new books to take back. On our way back to the hotel, we stumbled upon the hotel that David and I stayed at back when we considered moving to Singapore (choosing Malaysia instead). The Naumi hotel was so fun to see….and whaddayaknow, next door was this amazing hole in the wall Mexican joint called Papi Tacos. Holy cow FINALLY some mouthwatering Mexican food- we devoured it all…..Such great tacos and margaritas!

Book haul!!!

HOLY PAPI TACOS!!!!

The hotel we stayed at in 2011!

Since we all loved Lao Pa Sat so much, we decided for our last dinner to go back again. I mean how could we not?! We ordered more Hainan Chicken and Rice, some XiaoLongBao dumplings, some Curry Laksa plus more dumplings and greens. We were in heaven and I loved watching the kids explore new foods. Bonus was since we went at night, they had live music playing so just the combo of the warm humid nighttime air, the scents of the hawker stalls, the hustle and bustle of people chatting, and the music surrounding us…..just couldn’t have asked for a better way to end our time in KL and Singapore with the kids. Loved showing them a slice of why we fell in love with SE Asia!!

More Singaporean food!

YUM

D+Saving tables in Singapore’s hawker stalls

And just a side note, there truly is so much to do in Singapore for kids- a zoo (which I have taken Ava to when she was a toddler), a Universal Studios, plus much more. We just knew with only 4 days we had to pick and choose and I think we hit the mark straight on. Kids loved every second!

Happy traveling friends, thanks for reading (and for tolerating our many times horrible photography skills!)~

xo Kimbra