For starters, the flight was free. And they fed us like crazy - I mean, the kids were turning food down towards the end and I was grabbing it and stashing it in my backpack for later. They even came around with FULL SIZE CANDY BARS. Snickers, etc.... Yes they did.
We stayed at a military lodging facility that charged us a whooping $90 a night for a three bedroom apartment, with two bathrooms and a kitchen. Laundry service was directly outside our front door. Free movie rental. Pizza Hut, KFC, and McDonalds all delivered to us. Oh - and of course, someone cleaned the apartment and did the dishes every day. I could have stayed just in that room and been happy.
A short walk away we could get on the metro, which would take us pretty much anywhere we wanted to go, or pretty close anyways.
When we got to our room, we noticed a sign that said "Feeding the monkeys has a fine of up to $5,000." We're going "What monkeys????" Well, as we found out from the noises outside our window bright and early one morning, they do roam free around the island. We got to see a couple on our walks back and forth to the Navy post - that was probably one of my favorite parts.
Singapore is only about 85 miles north of the equator, so the weather is spectacular. We had solid 88 degree days, perfectly clear, the entire time we were there. Well, truthfully there were showers every afternoon, but they came and went so fast you just felt refreshed. The weather is the same year round.
I absolutely loved the abundance of fresh tropical fruit everywhere we went. Guava, mangos, papaya, coconut, all the things I grew up loving in Puerto Rico were sold in every corner. OK, fine, I don't really like papaya, but I just feel like I should, you know. I did get to drink straight out of a coconut which I hadn't done since, well, since I ate at the Thai restaurant in China last year, but it was a REALLY long time before that.
We stayed pretty busy but still made it back to the room early enough each night to just enjoy lounging around and having no responsibilities. Which makes having roomy lodging very key.
The food was a great part of the experience as well. There is such a mix of cultures on the island that it makes for an interesting selection of grub. We enjoyed getting giant plates of authentic Chinese and Indian food for dirt cheap, mostly $3 to $4. Abby in particular probably ate a truckload worth of noodles while we were there. My absolute favorite were these "crunchy" meatballs I had on the beach - I could've eaten them every single day. Jim had a fair amount of seafood, including the popular "chili" crab.
We explored the beaches, the zoo, night safari, Science Center, Chinatown, Little India, spent two days hanging out on Sentosa Island, and still had time for a "down" day on Sunday, giving us a chance to go to church and hang out by the pool after Sunday brunch.
We got back on Wed. evening, and already this morning (Sat. morning to us) my three big boys left on a snowboarding trip. From the equator to the slopes in less than 3 days.
Here's a few pics from our time in Singapore:
The cool pool we hung out at.
Beautiful beaches on Sentosa*.
Look at those plates of food for $4.
A little Luge action.
Chinatown
And a very special little girl is turning 10 tomorrow, so be on the lookout for more pictures.
Your vacation looks fabulous! And happy to one very special Abby!!
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