After going through check-in at the airport and going through the front door of the cabin onto the plane, our eldest son with whom we were traveling took one look at Business Class and said, “Oh wow Mooom! This is awesome let’s sit over here!” So that got our trip off with a smile. 🙂 We were lucky as it was since economy wasn’t busy and our little gentleman managed to make it through the 11 hour trip relaxing in comfort. When we landed in the Singapore Airport he made sure not to neglect thanking the pilots for providing us with such a safe and sound trip. 🙂
From the airport we took a taxi towards Clarke Quay where our pretty little riverside hotel awaited us. Of course as always when we travel we spent the time trying to work out what we would do with our three days in Singapore. After we’d gotten to the hotel and gotten ourselves settled it was around 5:00pm so we decided to do the thing at the top of our list and join a “Night Safari”. With help from the staff of the hotel we bought tickets and started waiting for the shuttle to take us out on the safari.
The Night Safari was really crowded, probably because it’s one of the things that every single tourist who visits Singapore makes sure they do. You walk around in a massive area (about 40 hectares) that houses this animal park with lighting so dim that you’re basically wandering around in the dark. You can do it either on foot or by a mini train. If you’re lucky, even in the dark you’ll come across wild animals in their natural habitats like a leopard, weasel, lion, or snake. If you’re brave enough you can even go up and take a picture with a snake or a lynx. At least we were able to show that kind of bravery to lynxes and snakes. 🙂 After this bit of excitement we went to watch a fire and dance performance before returning home on the shuttle that brought us out there.
We started to realize that we hadn’t even eaten dinner yet so we absolutely dove into one of the many restaurants near our hotel, each of which looked more delicious than the next. Because most food here is of cuisines from all over the world, without exception we all had excellent food and satiated our hunger and then went back to our hotel to sleep so that we’d preserve all our energies for the next day.
We planned on spending the next day having fun at the famous Sentosa Island. Approximately 5 million people every year visit Sentosa and due to its beaches, theme parks, 5-star hotels, golf courses, and everything else you really need at least two days to see everything on this tourist resort.
You can get to the island either by train, bus or cable car. We figured that the most fun would be to go by cable car so after breakfast at the hotel we took a cab about ten minutes to the Singapore Cable Car station at Mount Faber. As we’d expected, the cable car ride was a lot of fun and I’d recommend it to everyone else as well. 🙂
When our cable car got to the island we noticed the Singapore Cable Car Gift Museum. The museum is a fantastic place to pick up any one of the wide variety of sweet little gifts for your loved ones on your return even if it’s just a small little thing.
Right after the gift museum we found ourselves at Imbiah Lookout. This is much more of a place for outdoor activities. Make sure you don’t come without visiting Tiger Sky Tower which is at an elevation of 131 meters above sea level. The view from the tower is breathtaking! You don’t just see Sentosa Island, you see all of Singapore and the South Islands as well.
After this amazing view we went to the cinema to take in a 4D film. The film with its moving seats and water splashing in our faces was especially enjoyable for our son Kaan. 🙂
After the movie we took out our maps and made sure not to lose any time in moving on to go find the endless species of fish and sea creatures featured at the aquarium. The island is huge but you can go just about anywhere in comfort with the mini-buses.
After looking at the giant crabs, lovely stingrays and wild sharks we got to the best part: Skyline Luge. 🙂 Here you can go carting in different ways from the top of the island all the way to the bottom. We raced as a family and of course Kaan was the winner. 🙂
When we got to the bottom we hit Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong beaches. The weather was hot and since we’d brought our swimsuits we gave ourselves a half hour break to cool down. After getting out of the water and changing back into our clothes we were wondering how to get back up when we saw that there were ski lifts. We got in the ski lift and headed right back up. Make sure that you smile on these lifts because there’s a camera placed right on them that takes your pictures and then when you get to the top you can buy them if you want. 🙂
When we got to the top we had a quick lunch break and then went out to catch one of the dolphin shows that only go on at specified hours. Those who want to can even pet the dolphins after the show and even take photos with them. Naturally, Kaan did not miss this this opportunity. 🙂
When we looked at our maps we noticed that even though we’d done a lot already, there was still a ton of things to be done. One of these things was Butterfly Park. Even though it’s called Butterfly Park, there are a lot of things in the park besides butterflies and we read that there were lots of different kinds of insect species there as well. Another activity – and a lot of our friends have told us that we absolutely have to go back to Sentosa just for this – is the laser, fire and water show called “Songs of the Sea.” Unfortunately we didn’t have time.
Even though we’d arrived to Sentosa really early in the morning, we looked at our watches and noticed that it was evening and our little gentleman was so worn out that he could hardly put one foot in front of the other! 🙂 It was in this state that we went back to where we’d arrived to the island and got back on the cable car. Kaan was so tired he went to sleep on the cable car and didn’t even wake up during the whooooole of the trip in the taxi back to the hotel. 🙂
After we’d relaxed a bit in our hotel following our exertions on Sentosa and after Kaan had woken up we got in a taxi to go walk around Orchard Road, the most famous and busiest street in Singapore. There are lots of famous brands for shopping, with luxurious shopping centers, and chic cafes and restaurants with each fancier than the next. The weather’s so hot that you might want to go into a shopping center just to escape the heat. We walked amongst the orchids that gave the avenue its name and had some desserts and coffee at a sweet little cafe with live music. Because of the special lighting of the street it all looked just magnificent.:)
The first stop on our last day in Singapore was Science Centre Singapore, but when we got there we found out that it’s closed on Mondays. Even though Kaan was disappointed he livened up when he learned that the next thing on our list was the zoo. 🙂
After a trip of about 20 minutes we got to the Singapore Zoo to spend an entirely pleasurable day there. Even though as you know most major cities in the world have their own zoos, the Singapore Zoo was so clean and well-maintained that I have to say that it’s one of the most pleasant zoos to be in that I’ve ever been in. We noticed that with just a couple of exceptions almost all of the animals weren’t inside cages/glass. Especially the area with the Bengal tigers we even started to get a little nervous before we noticed that there are camouflaged barriers between where people and animals walk around. As a result we were able to continue walking around in comfort. 🙂
One of the things that Kaan enjoyed the most in the park was the little ponies that children could ride on. The other thing he loved was the Water Park in the 4th station. I can say that Kaan almost passed out from pleasure here. 🙂 Because children can get as wet here as they would at the sea, I’d recommend that you bring either a change of clothes or a swimsuit with you.
Right after this delightful day that we spent at the Singapore Zoo we took a taxi to the airport to catch our flight. We left Singapore looking at all of our pictures on the flight and realized that even though our time had been short, our trip had been really amazing and wonderful the whole way…
