Singapore

Over Memorial Day weekend, we flew down to Singapore for some good ol' fashioned family fun. Thanks to a "friends and family" hook-up, we got a nice rate at the Singapore Fairmont, situated across the street from Singapore's (maybe the world's?) most famous hotel, the Raffles. We had big plans, as Singapore has quite a few great sites for kids, and we made it to a respectable amount of them over the 3 days we were there. However, the humidity slowed us down a bit. Still, a great trip.

We began by walking down Orchard Street, Singapore's famous shopping thoroughfare, from our hotel. Shane got his first taste of bubble tea. He loved the tapioca pearls.

We also walked by Istana, the President's residence, which had these very cool trees outside.

Across the street was Istana Park, where the kids ran around and hammed it up.

We made it back to the hotel through Singapore's subway and labyrintine underground shopping/walking network of tunnels.

That night, we went to the Night Safari. You take a tram through the park and get to see the animals up close and in their nocturnal habitats. There are also walking trails, which included a lot of time spent watching Eliana's new favorite animal, the tiger. No flash photography, though, so photographic evidence of this portion of our trip is limited.

(on the tram)

(elephant statues out front)

The next morning, we went to the beautiful Botanical Gardens. They were incredible but the humidity hit us hard on this portion of the trip.

 (swan sculpture in the middle of a pond)

 (behind a waterfall)

 (mother & daughter)

 (swinging on a rope bridge)

 (in a cave)

 (tree house in the kids park)

 (down the slide)

(playing in the park)

After all of that heat and activity, we headed had some famous Singapore chili crab at No Signboard Seafood Restaurant, taking turns eating and chasing Shane out in the waterfront area as he checked out the boats.

 (famous Merlion statue/fountain in the background)

In the underground tunnel on the walk over and back, they had this public art display celebrating cassette tapes.

Later, we headed to Haji Lane and Little India.

 (mural on Haji Lane)

 (building tilework)

(made-to-order ice cream sandwiches from this street vendor)

 (colorful storefronts in Little India)

 (Little India street scene)

(Little India storefronts)

 (colorful Little India building)

  (same colorful Little India building)

That night, we took in the water and light show at the Marina Bay Sands casino/hotel/mall/museum/etc. complex. The kids loved it but, again, pictures didn't do it justice.

The next day, we spent most of our time at the amazing Singapore Zoo. Not only do they have incredible animals there, many of which I have never seen before, but the layout of the zoo was incredible. We were closer to the animals than we have been at any zoo before and, in some cases, the animals were out and about on the zoo grounds.

(monkey perched over a walking path)

(river otters)

(gnarly-toothed warthogs)

(in front of the white tiger)

(white tiger stalking)

(white tiger stretching)

(white tiger sitting)

(two white tigers)

(white tiger staring)

(sea lion performance)

(Eliana and other kids getting splashed by the sea lion)

(goats)

 

(ring-tailed lemur overhead)

(world's largest flower--native to Singapore)

(Eliana and giraffes)

(giraffes)

(meerkat)

(zebras)

 (rhinos)

(orangutan climbing in the trees)

(carousel ride)

Just as the humidity was getting to us, we made it to the water park in the middle of the zoo.