From Dubai to ... Singapore!

One of the reasons we made the move to Dubai was to take advantage of travel opportunities that we might not have otherwise. Back in the spring, we decided to go ahead and plan a trip to Singapore at the end of the summer based on some recommendations from friends. Jokingly, I told others that we booked the trip to make sure we would come back to Dubai after our summer in Texas (haha). I knew the timing would be tough because our 7-hour flight to Singapore was scheduled for the day after we made it back to Dubai. The time difference was also hard -- a full 13 hours ahead of the central time zone where we'd spent the prior 2 months. By the time we made it to Singapore, it was midnight and I had no idea what day it was! We ordered McDonald's delivery and enjoyed the sights from our 3-bedroom hotel apartment. We finally made it to bed and barely woke up in time for the hotel breakfast buffet the following morning.

Our hotel was located in a central area close to Fort Canning Park (which we never managed to visit) and the popular Orchard Road area. Taxis are readily available and affordable anywhere in the city, but it takes some getting used to seeing the cars and drivers on the wrong side! We weren't even in the city for a half day before we almost got hit by a passing (non-yielding) car. Yikes!

For our first day in Singapore, we set out on foot to explore our area and visit the nearby Visitor's Center. The weather was similar to Houston's summer heat and likely even more humid. It was green, beautiful, and lush everywhere. I thought it was neat to see the Singapore flags, too.

At the Visitor's Center, we bought Hippo Passes for each of us, which would allow us to visit a huge number of attractions across the city during our stay. I've seen many big cities adopt this type of offering for tourists and it really is a great way to see a lot of things for a much lower cost. From the Visitor's Center, we took a cab to the Chinatown area so that we could walk around and browse the vendor shops. The kids enjoyed looking and picked out these unique "stress balls" that make soothing noises as you twirl them in your palm together. We also stopped for some drinks and street food, which I would've enjoyed much more if I hadn't been so busy worrying about what the kids would eat. Ha!



We walked and walked until we were all so pooped out from our day, not to mention the jet lag that was most definitely kicking in. It was beautiful scenery along the way, and one of the cool spots was a Central Perk coffee shop exactly like the one on the TV show Friends. We eventually took another cab back to the Orchard area so that we could grab some dinner and stop back by the Visitor Center one more time.









That last photo cracks me up. Kaitlynn's French braid had taken on a life of its own, and Connor had reached the point of tired where he was delirious. We walked to a mall across the street or dinner, but unfortunately we made a poor choice and ended up enjoying Kaitlynn's cute unbraided hairstyle far more than the chicken sandwiches we'd ordered.

Look at those tired faces. We went back to our hotel and crashed from exhaustion, hoping to wake up rejuvenated for the next day of fun exploring the city-state of Singapore.