3 days in Singapore with kids..... broke but happy at the end!

---

Well Singapore has been on the list for some time, I mean its a kids paradise when you start researching 'things to do with kids'. Only problem is that the accommodation is expensive, attractions cost an arm and a leg and to eat in a nice restaurant I would have to sell my first born! So we decided to a) only go for a short time and pack a lot in and b) save money where we could - hence the kids first foray into backpacking accommodation and meals in nearby Hawkers Centres (food is best there anyway!)



Our journey to reach Singapore was epic. A 5 hour car ride to the airport, a midnight flight with Air Asia to Kuala Lumpur, a small delay at KLIA2 and a lunch time flight to Singapore.... overall we travelled for more than 24 hours to get there and boy were the kids champs! Once we arrived we were dismayed to see the size of our 'private' room at the backpackers (and the kids and Todd even less impressed that we didn't have a private bathroom LOL) but figured what the hell... we were saving ourselves $200 a night in accommodation and we were so packed to the brim of plans we would barely be there unless sleeping!



Our first stop was the markets for some shopping. I convinced the kids to try these tiny coconut pancakes, and they were promptly addicted. They are the worlds worst eaters, fussy and typical Aussie three veg and meat kids... the rule in our house though is that they try everything at least once.... and quite often they are surprised! We will make them world travellers by the time they are adults I am sure!



After the markets we headed back to the hotel to freshen up. Only problem was that the bathrooms were not air conditioned and it was HOT! So literally while you are trying to dry yourself you are wet putting your clothes on from the sweat and humidity! After freshening up we headed to the local Hawker Markets in Chinatown and all scoffed down a huge meal of duck, rice, noodles and cold drinks. Dinner was less than $30 for 4 of us so we were stoked at that. Mitchell proudly used chopsticks for his whole meal!



Mitchell had a meltdown when we got back to the hotel over the pillow situation.. apparently the 6 pillows he tried were no good and it turned into a full scale world war 3 meltdown! thankfully he eventually passed out and despite the meltdown we were super proud they had survived such a huge day/24 hours.



The following morning we were up bright and early and off to Universal Studios. This was by far, the most expensive day of our trip as we purchased unlimited express passes for the rides... and let me tell you.. they were worth EVERY cent even though the day was not as busy as I was expecting. The only ride the kids didn't go on was the massive Transformers roller coaster. Very disappointing as we knew they would have loved it, but they watched Todd and I do it twice. The second time did me in though. Despite having taken a strong anti nausea tablet I was still nauseous!! The kids were amazing though and went on all the other rides. The Mummy ride was truly terrifying (an indoor rollercoaster in the dark) and the kids had no idea what they were walking into... had they known I am sure they wouldn't have done it.... but by the end Mitchell was begging to do it again and Maya went along very reluctantly! I managed to keep my eyes open the whole time second time around!



After we finished at Universal we walked from Sentosa Island over to Vivo City and caught a train to Chinatown. While the subway was super easy, we ended up doing Grab taxis the rest of the time there, it was just easier with two kids in tow and being so hot! Dinner was again at the same Hawker Centre and less than $30!



Day 2 saw us hit the Singapore Zoo and have breakfast with the Orangutans. We were there super early to get a good seat, but it didn't matter as they have seating allocations already done (so tip not to turn up early). We were lucky to be seated right at the front anyway and the breakfast was worth every cent. It was a bit of a money making maching as they churned people through for their Orangutan photos as their photos were expensive, but thankfully we got photos on our phone so it was all good in the end!



The zoo was fantastic and lunch was reasonably priced. We left the zoo around 2.00pm having seen everything we needed to. Later that night we headed to Satay by the Bay for dinner before walking into the Gardens By The Bay for the nightly free light/music show. This was fantastic and a 'do not miss'. After the show, we walked over to Marina Bay Sands and watched the water/light show in the Bay before heading home in a GRAB - beyond exhausted.



Day 3 saw us chilling out at Adventure Cove Waterpark - we arrived as it opened and managed to snag some sunbeds near the wave pool. The kids again had a ball on all the waterslides (as did Todd). I spent the day under an umbrella and cooling off in the wave pool. There isn't too much choice for food and its quite expensive so we ended up eating dippy dogs and slushies! We all slathered on the sunscreen all day but somehow Todd and I managed to burn to a crisp. We left the waterpark mid afternoon and headed over to the Sentosa Luge.



We did three trips on the luge and cable car. All of us were nervous on the cable car going up as its a ski lift essentially and it doesn't stop at the top. You literally have to jump off and move the hell out of its way or it will push you over. No mishaps thankfully and the luge down the hill was lots of fun for all of us. We only did 3 of our 4 luge rides as we were feeling the effects of all the sun so headed back to the hotel in a GRAB cab. Dinner was at the Hawker Centre and the kids did some souvenir shopping in Chinatown.



The next day we were up and heading off to Thailand for 9 nights. Singapore was amazing for kids.... but very expensive. Save your money for sure! We skimped on the accommodation and eating but never felt that it impacted on our time.



Accommodation : WINK Capsule Hotel, Chinatown

Food: Satay by the Bay, Smith Street Hawker Centre Chinatown

---