Singapore - Part 2

The weather in Singapore is very hot and humid since it is close to the equator. It also rains almost every day. The first day we were there we walked down the Orchard Road upscale shopping district to have lunch at Fridays. (I know, but we really miss American chains sometimes! :) While we were eating it started pouring rain. People actually took off their shoes to wade across the street!

However, it wasn't all American chain food. My amazing friend Rohaya, who is from Singapore, gave us an incredible list of places to visit and restaurants and dishes to try. I wish we'd managed to try a few more, but we still have a great list for next time! Two of our favorites were Chicken Rice and Chili Crab. The chicken rice was a dish of incredibly yummy rice served with a side of steamed or roasted chicken.

 It was a hit with the entire family. Chili crab was an entire crab served in a huge bowl of incredible chili sauce with steamed buns called Man-Tou on the side. Matt and I both loved it but luckily the kids weren't willing to try it!

Our first day we browsed our way down Orchard Road and Laura and I got haircuts at a salon where the stylists spoke perfect English! :)

Then we spent the rest of the day in the hotel pool.

The next day we took a double decker bus tour bus and explored the city. The kids had never been on a double decker bus and the breeze made the hot sticky weather bearable. On our way back to the hotel we got caught in a massive downpour and arrived back at our hotel looking like drowned rats.

Matt had to work the next day, so the kids and I went to the Singapore Zoo. Billed as the world's best rainforest zoo, it really was special. The habitats for the animals were very cool and it offered so many chances to interact and get up close with the animals. It really was something different than we'd ever seen before.

Based on a recommendation from our friends the Enersons, we decided to have breakfast with the orangutans. The food was so so but the orangutans were amazing!

The kids fed the elephants bananas.

 
Then they fed the giraffes. Apparently the girls looked tasty, because they both got licked by giraffe tongues.

This emu also tried to take a bite out of Katie!

My favorite animals were the chimpanzees.

The kids got to take part in an animal show. They even got a stuffed animal and Frisbee for participating!

Their absolute favorite part of the zoo was the splash park. We spent at least 3 hours here! We also saw  our friends the Barlows from Rokko Island!

Luckily the day was overcast and the Singapore schools had just started back after their spring break, so the zoo was very empty and not as hot as usual. That night we headed to a residential area for dinner to get a feel for what it would like to be a "local" expat family. Our conclusion: it would be very nice!

The next day we went to Universal Studios. It was sprinkling lightly, and most rides only had a 5 minute wait. The best part was that everything was in English, so we could understand it all!

The girls with the pharoh

The Ancient Egypt section was very cool!

The girls with Space Aliens

Madagascar show

That night we tried a fish spa. Our fish spa had three sizes of fish. None of us were brave enough to try the big ones! It was a very weird sensation, like prickly bubbles on your feet.

My feet did end up very soft, but I'm not sure I'll ever do it again. However, it will definitely be something the whole family will remember!

The following day, Matt was off and we headed to Sentosa Island. This is a small island off the coast of Singapore that has been turned into a resort area. The day was very hot and sunny! First we went to see the Merlion, the symbol of Singapore. The original one is located on the downtown bay but it has been converted enclosed and made into a decoration for a very expensive hotel room for the next few months! The Merlion on Sentosa was very cool though.

Drenched in sweat after visiting the Merlion, we decided to head to the beach. Matt and I were a little worried about the water quality, since frieghters filled the water right outside the bay. However, it wasn't bad. The beach was gorgeous and so was the island scenery. Unfortunately, despite the sun block, swim shirts, and a limited time on the beach we all got a bit fried.

Our final day we decided to spend relaxing at our shaded hotel pool. It was a perfect ending to a very busy week. For dinner we headed to the East Coast Beach area for dinner. It was beautiful and our chili crab was very tasty!

Singapore was one of my very favorite vacations so far and I would absolutely love to go back again. It is a vibrant, gorgeous, wealthy city, giddy on its own prosperity. It was so much fun and so easy to navigate. Despite the fact that I really enjoy Japan, I am a bit jealous of all the expats who are in Singapore instead. Of course, the fact that we stayed at the St. Regis Hotel didn't hurt anything. It was definitely one of the fanciest hotels I've ever seen!

Breakfast please!

I could get used to this!

Restaurant ceiling