Prolog
We have been to Singapore several times for business and personal trip (see here), but this time is a huge different experience.
beautiful riverside
With 3 elders averaging 75 years old of age (really envy their health), and 2 toddlers (2yrs+ #gemini), the trip has to be planned as convenient as possible, with enough time to rest. And agenda that suits everyone.
This also was a first overseas trip for #gemini, so we took everything at a much more leisurely pace, and we spent more time just walking around in parks or malls.
With 5 adults and 2 toddlers, we decided to stay at apartment rather than at hotel. We choose to stay at Elisabeth Towers, 12 Mt Elisabeth. (ibu Indra, +62818172891) – opposite of York Hotel, the apartment is located within the region of Orchard, near to Orchard MRT station (around 500m walking) and bus station.
O o u c h I forgot to mention, while planning this trip, I like this site very much : gothere.sg and nearby.sg –very useful tools to arrange the trip.
Overall, it was an excellent holidays and definitely worth of the hassle. We made the coolest memories traveling for the first time as a family of seven and I love that we were able to show #gemini, a different part of the world, even if they won’t have clear memories of it (sure we have lots of photo and videos to show them when they are older).
What’s more interesting, is that we found traveling with #gemini actually pretty awesome.They showed genuine interest, and they are really aware that this is different place and far-far away from home.
(..and I’m so excited to plan more trip for #gemini)
Here is our itinerary…
Day 1 – Changi and Orchard
Lunch: Paradise Inn, Changi T1 – (link here) , we started the food adventure by choosing traditional Chinese offering classic Cantonese Cuisine.Decent food and good service, especially since they have cute kid set plate for the kids.
After that, we saw the interesting sight: Kinetic Rain at T1 Changi. See the official video here
In this first day, we start by settling down in the apartments. And in the afternoon, we walk to Orchard Road for dinner.
Dinner: Food Republic at Wisma Atria – Chicken Rice, Yong Tau Food soup (fishball) for kids, and Laksa. One thing for sure from every food court; the food options are plenty but we constantly ordered almost the same thing.
Day 2 – Chinatown, River Cruise, Esplanade
We started the day by going to Chinatown.
Breakfast: Maxwell Food Court (link here). This was one of our favourite place to find street food.
But unfortunately, the most famous food in here : Zen-Zen Porridge (link here) was temporarily closed until 4 April 2014.
After that, we strolling to the heart of Chinatown. There are 2 temples here: Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Sri Mariamman Temple (Hindu)
For our elders, the temple’s surely an interesting place. Gemini showed more interest in the Chinatown market. We bought chopsticks for them here.
After that, we took River Cruise (link here) — $30/pax. We never tried this before, so the boat experience was very interesting and we all enjoyed the views of amazing architectures on the river side.
Lunch: Toastbox at Esplanade Mall. On 2008, Nasi Lemak is only $2 but now $5 with chicken
After lunch, we walk from Esplanade to Raffles via the City-Link mall.
Dinner; Food Opera at @Ion Orchard (link here ) — Ice Kacang here is really awesome!
Day 3 : Marina Area
Breakfast: Killiney Kopitiam at Millenia Walk
In this very hot day, we walked to Marina Bay area, through the Helix Bridge. Singapore may not have the beautiful scenery like in Indonesia, but they surely know how to compensate just like in this Marina Area. Stunning architectural view.
Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands is a beauty. And surprisingly, that day the mall hosted meet and greet casts from ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’. Yes, Jamie Foxx and Emma Stone were there (but we decided not to wait the event).
we can become Spidey too!
Highlight for #gemini: at just 32months, #gemini met the ‘real’ Spiderman from the launching of The Amazing Spiderman 2
Lunch: Rasapura Masters at Canal Level, Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Ave
We went to Gardens by the Bay. Another brilliant concept.
Dinner: Makansutra Gluttons Bay (link here) – Every hawker here is handpicked by Makansutra (link here). Fantastic location with great view of Marina Bay Sands.
Supper: Ananda Bhavan, see here for our previous review. Biryani Set Meal and Dosai for our supper, what can be more benign than full stomach in mid of the night
Day 4 – Shopping Time! Ikea Alexandra and Vivo City
Breakfast : Ikea. Sweddish Meatball and Poached Salmon with Chives Sauce are two of our favorite meal from Ikea kitchen
Ikea! Kid toys here are unique, especially the wooden toys. Since it’s working day, gemini has plenty of time to play with the displays.
playing at the store
Lunch: Subway @ Vivo City for lite lunch and Food Court for heavy lunch. By heavy mean PepperLunch for twins and all of the deep fried for seniors and Indian Food for us.
Vivo City. Surprisingly, spending time in Toys R Us is not so fun for #Gemini. We ended up not buying anything here.
#Gemini delightly found a whole world at the open-air playground at Level 2. They were very happy, running here and there.
Dinner: Marche. Overpriced but good atmosphere. The queieng is very long, from enter, order the food and on the cashier.
Day 5 – Back Home Jakarta
We had our flight on 14.35 and nothing scheduled on the day except breakfast at Food Opera @Ion Orchard but with #gemini nap and everything, we didn’t have chance to explore Changi.
Epilog
What? No Sentosa Island? No zoo? No Jurong Bird Park?
We deliberately exclude those from our list. Beside considered expensive, we don’t think #Gemini can stand the heat (sun) and walking around.We did not regret it, since there always be next time for Singapore. Fingers crossed.