2023-11: Five Days in Singapore
Besides exploring Changi Airport and the Orchard/downtown area, we had local friends dictate this trip's entire itinerary.
Singapore will always have a special place in my heart for all the old friends I got to reconnect with. It just so happened that two couples from my GZ days were living there, both are close confidants from a previous most exhilarating life. Then there was a Peking University classmate from study abroad 2006, and a former colleague from Princeton in Beijing who is Singaporean and overlaps with Tom now in East Asian religion. We have become parents and gone through some pretty drastic changes in our personal and professional lives since our last interaction. To top it all off, I got to catch up with one of my StudioYU artists, Joan Marie Kelly, Ph.D. We met when she gave a talk at Princeton’s Visual Arts Department in 2014 and got to exhibit together at Princeton Abbey. She has been teaching in Singapore for 13 years!
Given all these people’s familiarity with the area, whatever they thought might be kid-friendly, we went with. Singapore is so small and transportation is so convenient that it’s easily manageable with 2 toddlers…as long as they are willing to walk in the heat.
Likes:
Languages We Used to get around: English/Singlish for all the flashy/upscale places + Mandarin as a backup when we come across the occasional local or taxi driver who clearly has Chinese music/TV/radio blasting.
Cheap airfare via Scoot Airlines (the Southwest Airlines for Asia).
Changi Airport and all its free amenities (movie theater, lounges, gardens, play areas, Food Street). Also, security check at Changi Aiport happened AT the gate.
All the diverse food options! Vending machines that serve warm food.
Simply swipe Visa/Mastercard to use Metro (no MetroCard necessary).
Heads up:
Grab rideshares cost extra for families with kids…need to select Grab Family when booking ride because those come with car seats. Or download Zig app / hail a cab the traditional way if you can get one that isn’t already booked.
Still hot and humid in November! Pack to prevent chafing.
Budget at least $150-250/day for 4-star+ accommodations.
Also, keeping a summary of our expenses/checklist here for reference:
What we didn’t get to do was visit the historic architecture in Little India…apparently still in its original form from hundreds of years ago. We were there during Diwali and it was too hot, humid, and crowded for our children to navigate. Perhaps someday la!