Ready To Go, Or Not

Yesterday morning, we got moving really slowly. After everyone got ready and my mom organized the apartment a little, we went to Toast Box and ate toast with kaya, soft boiled eggs, and my parents had kopi. Kopi is the Singaporean name for coffee. They like it, but I think it all tastes disgusting. After Toast Box, we went to an outside playground at the mall. It was up high. When you looked over the railing edge, you could see all the way down. YIKES!

At the playground, there was a big electronic wall where you pushed a couple buttons and it did things like play a song, light up, or make a loud annoying noise. We played there for a while and then my mother and I went to the grocery store. We bought twenty containers of kaya to bring home to share with everyone. The people in the store looked at a us really funny and it was heavy to carry home! By the time we finally got home, it was afternoon, so we went up to the pool for a while. We had a lot of fun in the pool, and then we went back down to my dad’s apartment. We packed for a while then took a break.

Eventually, it was dinner time and my dad picked a place that he had gone before that he thought we would all like. We took a taxi there and had to walk up a long set of brick steps to go in the restaurant. I said that it looked cool like there was a fort there or something and my mom said I was actually right and the building was part of an army base or something a long time ago. The tables were mostly outside and we picked one in the shade. My mom ordered and then we kids asked if we could stand up and play, and she said yes. There was a little fountain and fish pond and sand box to look at.  After a while the food came, so we ate. I had a burger and it was good. My moms drink was a green beer; isn’t that crazy?! After dinner we got a taxi and we drove home. We all went to bed ready to get up really, really early in the morning to go to the airport . . .

But . . .

In the middle of the night . . .

Everybody got sick!

Last night, after we got home from dinner, everyone started to get sick. Mom said she crossed her fingers and put us to bed anyways hoping it was because we were nervous about leaving. In the middle of the night though, I threw up really bad – all over. It was so, so, so disgusting. I felt horrible. My mom got super sick too, she was just as bad as I was.

In the middle of the night, my dad had to call the airline and ask to change our flight so we wouldn’t be throwing up on the plane. They were super nice and changed our flight to the next day. We barely slept the rest of the night, but my parents were happy because it worked out okay.

In the morning, we laid around and watched TV for a long time, and then we took a break for lunch. For lunch, I just had a piece of toast. Then my siblings and I made a fort. It was made out of pillows and chairs and blankets. After we were done playing in that, we tall were tired and laid around watching TV again. After my dad came home, we still watched TV and finally stopped for dinner. We ate gross chicken soup and more toast. We are going to go to sleep early again because we are supposed to leave really early for the airport. Everything is packed and ready . . .

One Last Day Of Fun In Singapore

Today we wanted to do our favorite things, one last time. Tomorrow, Mom wants to have an easy day to pack and get ready to leave. This morning, she chose for all of us to go to Bugis Street one more time. We got more fresh juice and green colored waffles from a street vendor. The waffles were so good. I went up and bought seconds for everyone by myself.

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the Gardens by the Bay. I think this is everyone’s favorite place to go in Singapore and we haven’t even walked around all of it yet. When we got there, we first got tickets to go in and see both of the domes that are there. The first one we went in was the Cloud Forest dome. It was amazing with a huge waterfall and tons of mist in the air. We walked to the top and saw all the flowers that grow in there. Some of the walkways were just metal grates that you could see all the way down to the bottom through and they were really high up!  The second one was the Flower Garden dome. This one felt super cold when we walked in and we were freezing most of the time we were in there. It was probably because we were dressed and used to the hot weather outside, but we didn’t stay in this one long because we were so cold. Some of the flowers that were in it were really pretty though.

After we were done with the domes, we went to the Children’s Garden. We brought our swimsuits in case we were able to go in the splash pad, but it got kind of windy and chilly, so we decided to just play instead. We played at the playground for almost an hour. There were big things to climb, really long slides, obstacles, and lots of climbing nets. After we were done playing there, we went back to Satay by the Bay to eat. We ate satay and prata. I love the prata there, and my mom does too. She said she’s going to try to make it herself once we go home. After dinner we went to the Super Tree grove to watch the light show. It was really pretty and cool. After the show, we rode the MRT home, relaxed a little and went to sleep.

Lau Pa Sat, the Merlion, and Walking Around

Today for lunch we went to my favorite kopitiam. My dad’s boss wanted to meet us, so he came with us. First, we took the MRT to the City Hall station by my dad’s work. When we got there, we went to the building entrance and waited for them to come down. When they came out, we walked across an upper walkway and went into the mall where the kopitiam is. After we found a table, my mom went to get our food as us kids started arguing about who could eat the most. When my mom got our food it was Pepper Lunch Express. Pepper Lunch Express is one of my favorite places to eat in Singapore. You get your food on a super hot skillet plate that is so hot that you can’t touch it and your food cooks as it sits on it. It’s usually rice, corn, and some kind of meat.

Later in the day, after my dad came home, we went out for dinner at Lau Pa Sat. Lau Pa Sat is an open air food court with lots of different stalls. When we got there we went out and found an outside table. When everybody was settled, my mom and I went to get food. We got 2 kebabs and noddles and rice. I loved my food and actually ordered another one to share with my brother.

After we finished dinner, we all walked over to the bay. There is a place to walk all around  it, with fountains and pretty art. The view is really cool with all the buildings  and the Marina Bay Sands (the big building with the boat on top) across the water. We walked all the way to Merlion Park because my mom wanted some pictures of the Merlion. At the Merlion, it was crowded so she did not get very good pictures. After we were done seeing the Merlion, my dad took us on a walk through the city to see some bridges that were lit  up very colorfully for the night. It was a really fun night and we all liked seeing places that my dad knows about to show us.

-Miss E

 

 

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Today we went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

When we woke up, we got dressed and then ate breakfast. After breakfast we went out and went to the MRT station. I helped read the MRT map to figure out where we were going. There was a stop called Botanic Gardens, so it was pretty easy. When we walked out of the MRT station, I got a little worried because I thought we had to walk a while but it was right next to the station. It was already getting hot so I was happy we had to walk less.

Once we went in the gates, we looked at the signs and headed towards the Children’s Garden. The Children’s Garden looked pretty fantastic. It had a maze and a playground and a water splash pad and tons of other stuff. My mom brought us to the tree house that was there. It was pretty big and had two huge slides. There was sand underneath the tree house and lots of ants so I didn’t want to stand in it too much. My mom said we could play there for a little bit and we ran up into the tree house. When I took my brother down the slide, I got a slide burn.

After we were done at the tree house, we walked around a little bit. The next thing we found was a small lily pad pond. In it were lots of lots of fish, dragonflies and lily pads. There was also a cool tank that showed the layers of the pond and what lived in it. We left there and walked on a path a little longer and came to a swinging bridge, which we ran across. Then, we found a waterfall that we could walk behind. It was small but really pretty with rainbows from when the sun shone on it. There was a lot of water rushing over it and we got a little wet from the mist when we stood behind it while my mom took our picture.

Before we left, we went through a big maze made of plants. That was kind of hot because it was all the way out in the sun, so we stopped at the splash pad and got a little bit wet before walking back to the MRT station. The Botanic Gardens were pretty amazing but I still like the Gardens by the Bay better because that one has way more flowers and trees and feels more like a jungle. Both are pretty, and I’m glad we went out to see this one.

-Miss E

 

Street Market and Super Trees

Today we went two fun places. We went back to the Bugis MRT stop and walked around on Bugis Street, and later we went to the Gardens by the Bay.

In the morning, we got up and moving early before it got too hot so we could go to the walking street which is kind of outside. It had all kinds of things like stalls with fresh fruit juice, stalls with toys, and tons of souvenir stalls. When we got there we walked around and bought key chains and some stuff for our classmates. After we were done shopping,  we got a fruit juice. I picked strawberry, MJ had blueberry and Tater had sour pear. The sour pear was really gross, I thought.

After my dad came home from work, we went to the Gardens by the Bay. We had wanted to go and play in the splash park, but it was too late when we got there and so we just went to eat instead. We went to Satay by the Bay to eat, and I was really excited because we had gone here before and it is really good. Satay is meat on a stick that they cook over a fire, and we had cheese prata to go with it.

After we ate, we headed to the Super Tree Grove. The Super Tree are these trees that are man made and really pretty with vines and flowers growing all on them and they have a light show every night! The light show was what we were going to see. So we sat and the show started. There is music that plays and the trees light up in time with the music. It’s really pretty and we had a great time dancing to the music and lights.

-Miss E

Arab Street and Staying In

Today we had another slow start and took our time leaving the house. We made it out in time to meet my dad for lunch. We went to Arab Street. The part of town it is in is called Kampong Glam. I think that sound fun, and so does the name of the MRT stop we got off at, which is called Bugis.

After we we met my dad and walked around. There were lots of shops with really pretty fabric, huge rugs, scarves, and beautiful hanging lamps. It was kind of early, so not a lot of restaurants were open yet. We finally found somewhere that was open, it was a Turkish place. My parents ordered for us. When we got our food, I took one look at it and said NO! It looked really gross to me. So, the rest of my family ate and then we went home because it was now too hot to walk around. After my dad came home from work, we went to the pool for a while. We were going to go out for dinner, but my brother had a giant meltdown and fell asleep. While he was sleeping my mom went out for some “mom time” and my dad made the rest of us dinner. It was only the second time we ate dinner at home in the whole time we’ve stayed in Singapore, which is kind of weird but the food at the grocery stores would cost the same as it costs to go out to eat for us.

-Miss E

Exploring Singapore Again {Clarke Quay and Fort Canning}

Today is our first full day back in Singapore!

This morning my mom let my sister and I have our phones for 60 minutes because we woke up really early. We watched a movie while everyone else got up really slowly. Then, we got dressed in tank tops and shorts, because it is pretty hot out, and then ate toast for breakfast and worked on our homework for a while. By then, it was almost 11am, so we got straight on the MRT to meet my dad for lunch at a restaurant called Kopitiam.

Kopitiam is like a food court with a bunch of different food stalls inside. There are tons of different kinds of food to choose from and this one is one of my favorites to eat at. When we got there and found seats, my mom got our food and brought it back to us – it was noodle soup and dumplings. I usually like dumplings, but today I didn’t really like them. After we were done, we went back to my dad’s apartment so my brothers could take a nap. We spent the afternoon doing more homework and playing, and then, after my dad got home, we went back out for dinner.

For dinner, we went to a part of town called Clarke Quay. It’s funny because it looks like Quay is pronounced Kway, but it’s really Key. We had Mexican food and sat right next to the river and watched a bunch of tour boats on it. After dinner, we went to Fort Canning Park. Fort Canning was one of the main forts that the British used to protect Singapore from invaders. Fort Canning Park is really big. When we got there, it was night time. As we walked around, my brother needed to go to the bathroom, so we went into the fancy hotel in the park. In the hotel, we saw a Muslim wedding party there. Their dresses were really, really pretty.

After we were done going to the bathroom, we went back into the park and my dad took us to see a secret stairway to the top of a gate. The gate was one of the main gates to protect the fort, and the top of it was for looking out and there were holes on the sides for guns to shoot through in case invaders made it that close to the fort. When we were done up there, we went down and my dad showed us another secret hallway. This one was for like an emergency escape hatch for if the fort was taken over. It led out to another level. After we were done exploring that, we went back down to the MRT and went home to sleep.

Back To Singapore, Bye Krabi!

Today we are leaving back to Singapore. I’m going to miss the beach! We saw a really pretty sunset last night so that was cool for our last night.

We woke up at 6:30 am and went to one last breakfast on the beach. After that, we got our stuff and got on the golf cart that was waiting for us and drove to the dock. When we got there, it was low tide so we had to get on a tractor to get to our boat. The was fun to ride behind a big tractor through the shallow water. When we got to our boat we got on and rode about 15 minutes to the other dock. The same as when we came the first time, we rode in a big taxi to the airport.

The security line was long, but we ended up still having to sit around and wait for our flight after that. We had Mentos to eat while the plane was taking off, and then got to use our phones for the rest of the flight. We were pretty tired after getting up early. Once we got to Singapore, we had to go through customs and immigration again the way we did the first time, but the line was really so short so that was good. We took a taxi back to my dad’s apartment and relaxed for a while. We got to swim in the pool and went our for noodles for dinner. I’m kinda happy to be back in Singapore because there is air conditioning everywhere!

-Miss E

Staying At Railay Bay

Today I’m going to tell all about where we’ve been staying at the beach!

The place we’re at is called Railay Bay Resort. It is one of four resorts on this beach that we’re at. The beach is called Railay Beach and it you can only get to it by boat because there are cliffs that block the way from the mainland. So everything at the resort has to be brought here by the same kind of boat we rode in to get here, the long tail boat. We saw them moving mattresses when we got here and that was kind of funny.

Our hotel has different types of rooms but most of the rooms are like tiny houses that aren’t attached to each other. Our kind has walls around the courtyard, with a pond and bridge over the pond. Others have balconies or decks and look at gardens. The hotel is right on the beach and when you eat breakfast at the restaurant, you could see the ocean. If you walk to the other side of the resort, you get to the other side of the bay where there is no beach but there are lots of trees growing in the water and a big wall at the edge where the tide comes in.

The resort has two pools. One is in the middle and we haven’t swam in that yet. The other  pool is really cool because it has a deep end that my sister and I can jump into. and a shallow end that my brother and sister can stand in. This pool is on the beach so we can see the ocean. There are lounge chairs at the pool but its hard to get them because everyone wants a chair in the shade. It’s awesome when its shady there because we don’t have to have as much sunscreen on as we always do. The pool is probably my favorite part of this place!

The beach here is cool because you can see right into the water. It’s very clear. The water is very rocky because there are limestone cliffs right over it and it’s limestone under it. I like it the most when it’s at high tide so I can swim, but I also do like low tide because I can find shells and crabs. I once even found 2 sea slugs! On the beach there are crab houses that look like spirals. The sand is perfect for making sand castles.

We took a trail around the other end of the big cliff next to our resort to go and find another beach. Along the trail, there were tons of monkeys. Some were taking food from people. It was kind of funny and they were really cute. After we walked along the trail, under really cool cliffs, we found another beach. This one was cool because the water got deep enough to swim in quicker than our side and it was surrounded by bigger cliffs. There were lots of boats parked at this one when we walked past, but if we kept going, there were less people at the very end. The water over here was even clearer than in front of our resort and we found tons of cool shells.

-Miss E

Off To The Beach!

Today, we went to Krabi, Thailand. We’re here to spend some time at the beach!

 

We woke up this morning at 4am to catch our flight. It was really dark and quiet out when we got in our taxi. I got to sit in the front seat because it wasn’t a giant one, but a regular car like my mom’s. When we got to the airport, we took all our luggage in and went through a long line to check in and go through security. We then went upstairs to wait for our flight.

It was a short flight and I only had time to read a little bit and MJ colored. After we landed, we got our luggage and went outside to find our ride. It was another giant van and we all spread out inside it. The driver drove very fast and soon we were at the next place we had to stop. It was a dock at the edge of the water. We had to sit and wait for a little while and as we waited, an adorable kitten came up to us. I wanted to take it home!

Eventually, all our luggage got loaded in the boat and we got in too. It was called a long tail boat. My mom put my hair up in a ponytail while we waited to go. It was a really fun ride over the water and my brother got to drive the boat for a little while. When we reached the next dock, all our luggage was put on a golf cart and we were driven to the check in place. It was too early for us to get our room, so they kept our luggage while we explored for a few hours. We ate lunch and walked back to try and get our room.

It was ready and we got driven there with our luggage in the golf cart again. When we got in the room, my mom freaked out a little bit because there were tons of mosquitoes and she was mad because she didn’t want to stay in a second place that was full of mosquitoes. My dad ended up stuffing towels in a big gap that was by the door so the mosquitoes couldn’t keep coming in, and while we were gone for dinner, he sprayed the room to kill the ones that were already in there.

The room was kind of small, with one big bed, a small daybed, and a rollaway bed. We were all piled in there. The bathroom didn’t have air conditioning like the main room and it smelled kinda bad. The outside was really cool though because there was a courtyard with a tiny pool and a pond with fish and flowers. There was a big tub outside and a shower so you didn’t bring sand into the room.

After we put our stuff away, we went to the pool. It was really nice to swim because we were pretty hot. We also got smoothies, and my brother Tater fell asleep at the table before he even got to taste his. After we swam more, we changed back into regular clothes and went to eat dinner. The hotel has a place to eat on the beach and we got to see the sunset. We had burgers and pizza and then went back to the hotel room and fell right asleep.

-Miss E