Well, we knew we’d be in for a bit of a culture shock going from Sri Lanka to Singapore . But WHAT a shock! A fantastic one!

Yes, we knew it would be clean and plush and organised…………………….. but it’s immaculate – all of it! Well, until you get into the real depths of chinatown and the like and even then it’s not really that grotty.

And where is everyone? There’s no hustle and bustle, not on the roads, the MRT or around the major sights. Are they all working 24/7 to pay for it all?

We had 3 nights in Singapore as it was really a bit of an afterthought after our ‘big ticket’ took us through here on our way to Thailand. Sadly, that really wasn’t enough. We could easily have done 5-6 days here. Colette describes it as like a big American city, but better and with the benefit of there being no bloody Americans (well not so many). As accommodation’s so goddam expensive here, we stayed at our first hostel of the trip. Beds and Dreams, Clarke Quay was central, clean and quiet with a multitude of all ages and nationalities all using the great communal facilities quietly and respectfully. Breakfast plentiful, self serve affair which even served as supper on night 2 when the kids were facebooking friends at half 10 at night eating cornflakes!

So, what did we get up to on our whistle stop tour? Some of the obvious, some not so much. We spent a large part of day 1 around the Gardens by the Bay; a reclaimed and regenerated area that now houses a Cloud dome and Flower dome, the Supertree Grove that’s connected by the OCBC Skywalk, all within acres of gardens, laced with sculptures and journeys of discovery that blow away any worries of the need for formal, structured lessons or ‘school’ time. The immersive films that lead you through the end of one of the domes blew us all away and had us in tears as it really hit you in the face with how we’re destroying the planet. You could just see the lightbulbs ping on in the kids faces as the images and information was absorbed. The funny thing was that the night before both had been saying how they’d like to try meat sometime, just to see what it’s like. We agreed that they can choose to do that sometime on the trip, though we wouldn’t be joining them in a burger fest. After these films, I’m not sure either is going to return to that idea any time soon but we’ll see.

So yes, all fabuloso garden based stuff, but the unexpected highlight was the children’s garden, fountains and incredible playground that we seemed to have mainly to ourselves. The kids would have happily spent another day just here alone. Not to be though as the sun was going down, so we headed home via Chinatown for impromptu purchases and tea at a Hawker Centre. Henna quickly sought out the solitary ALL veggie stall where we could just mix and match with few questions needed about ingredients (they do like their fish sauce in a lot of stuff – not on this stall!

Late to bed for all of us, meaning another late start the following day, giving me the chance to run around the city picking up tickets, snorkeling masks and wave balls before a late breakfast. Wanting to avoid indoor activities, the zoo and anything too prescribed as a touristy thing to do, we headed out to the Henderson Waves;  an organic wooden bridge in Mount Faber Park that leads you to the Southern Ridges via a forest walk. These elevated walkways through the forest were recommended to us by our Singaporean friend, Sherilyn whom we met her in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. Here, we met a photographer testing out his drone before a trip to Russia. He told us that it’s not recommenfded to land a drone on ice so he was practicing catching it on landing. We all grilled him as to the merits of the model he had as it’s on the list to add to our own media kit. Mt Faber Park is also the end stop for the Mt Faber – Sentosa cable car, which of course we rode. Poor kids gazed in wonder as we coasted over the amusement parks and water fun. Arlo declared that for his 8th birthday (18 months away) he’d like a drone, or a more powerful RC car, or a trip to Singapore, ooh …….. and a dog of course! He also decided than when he grows up, he’ll fly first class and get fat and have a big bum because you get a wider seat in first class to fit it in. He was already outlining his plans for improved designs of drones that’ll no doubt make him his fortune in the near future, as we headed  from the cable car to tea before our last stop of the day, the Marina Bay Sands Skywalk. Here, we had fabulous views of the city and the light shows from both the harbour and the Gardens’ grove trees, before heading back via MRT for late night cornflakes and naked facetiming.

No rush in the morning to get ourselves up and out via the as expected, super efficient taxi to the airport; the space age portal to the next world! We’ve really loved it here. Everyone said it was SO expensive but it really isn’t if you know what you’re doing. Eating can be crazy prices in the wrong places, but can also be peanuts (literally sometimes). Yes we spent a bit on attractions but non were overpriced compared to some countries and the tourist pass for the MRT really isn’t necessary if you’re only taking 2-4 rides a day, you can just pay as you go. And as for accomodation – you can’t beat a hostel!

So,”Se la mat jalan, Zaìjiàn”, Singapore, and “Terima kasih, Xiè xiè”, – we’ll be back!