What We Learned

We learned some very valuable lessons while we were in Singapore. We wanted it to be nice relaxing family time. Well, it was not! We discovered very quickly that, as exciting as it was to be going to a brand new country, we are not big city, touristy kind of people.

We don't like having to walk a half mile to the subway to ride ten minutes to get to a place where all you can do is walk more and look at all the clothes that cost more than should be allowed (I mean really, a plain white tank top for $145…PLEASE!). Although, we can say we saw stores like Gucci, Tiffany's, Dior and any other name brand you can thing of.

We also learned that when you have a child who truly knows how to "stop and smell the roses" in life, it takes twice and long and twice the energy to get about in a city like this one. I think Kenna tried to stop and read every sign and look in every window and fence we passed in Singapore.

So, after two days of navigating the city trying to find less expensive and more interesting things to do, we finally gave up. It was just to stressful. By the end of the day everyone was just tired and grumpy and ready to get back to the house to relax. Something was just wrong with that picture.

We finally found a movie playing that the kids could see. So Sunday afternoon, we ventured out yet again to catch the one o'clock matinee. I won't bore you with all the details, but when we finally got back to our house at around 7:30, we just felt exhausted yet again.

Monday, our last full day there, we decided to head over to a small island where there are some beaches. The kids wanted to go to Underwater World first, so we did. Unfortunately, an hour into it they were ready to leave but we made them stay longer. It was too expensive to leave that fast! After that, we headed to the "beach." It was not our idea of a beach, but it was sand and water. It was the most fun and relaxing day we had in Singapore.

If we had left out Underwater World, it would have been perfect. That is who we are… we can relax when we can just be together and play on the beach, out in the open, not traipsing up and down the city streets and through ridiculously expensive malls. When we go back in a couple of months to renew our visas again you will find us sitting on the beach everyday… enjoying some relaxing family time!

In the meantime, here are some photos of our last few days.

Here we are outside of the mall where we went to watch our movie.

Yes, they have Dairy Queen in Singapore… woohoo! It was so good especially since it was so hot out and we had been walking for a long time.

Some interesting art work was displayed on the street. Here is Bre doing her best impersonation (of course she was not going to lay down on the sidewalk!).

Kenna could not be left out either!

Here is Kenna enjoying her HOT CHOCOLATE in 100 degree weather!

Here is one of the many streets of Singapore. They pretty much all looked like this… lots of people and lots of stores. Someone told us Singapore is a shopper's paradise, but only if your last name is Trump!

Here is a view of the city...

Here we are riding to island...

In one of these cable cars. It was a really neat way to get over to the island.

Here is Kenna inside a dome in a fish tank at Underwater World.

Then it was Bre's turn.

Then Ethan's turn was next.

We finally got the kids to stay and watch the shows. Here are the seals.

There was a thirty minute break between the seal show and the dolphin show. You would have thought we were torturing the kids making them wait, but they snapped out of it.

Of course it is always fun to sit next to a child who corrects the theme park. Ethan's response to the "dolphin" show, "They're not even dolphins, they're porpoises… just look at their nose." Sadly enough, I did not know enough about it to know if I should defend the park or agree with him!

We finally made it to the "beach." The little "islands" you see are man-made from rocks that were brought in. Not sure why, but we were at least thankful for the nets that were between the islands that kept out unfriendly sea life!

This is the view on the other side of the rock islands. Yep, row after row of oil tankers just sitting out there waiting for their turn to pass through. That inspires confidence in the cleanliness of the water!

Here is the view of the beach from the rocks.

Here are the kids not really caring about the cleanliness of the water. They are just happy to be able to have fun and play!

It was the best day!

Of course, Kenny and I just sat on the bank saying, "I'm not getting in that nasty water!"

Here is the view of the city on our way back. The sun was setting and the city was lit up and beautiful.

Heading back to the subway (which, of course, was at the bottom of yet another mall) Bre found her very own cafe!

If you look out in the distance in this photo you will see what looks like three buildings with a ship on top of them. This is actually a hotel. Ethan saw it advertised on TV before we left for Singapore and wanted to stay there. That was out of the question. The ship-looking thing on top of the buildings has an "endless" pool on top. It looks like you are swimming off of the edge of the building. It is amazing (you can look at it on-line, it is called Marina Bay Sands). There is an observation deck up there as well. Anyway can pay and go up and look at the city. That is the one thing Ethan asked to do and we did not get a chance while we were there. It will be the one thing other than the beach that we do when we go back!