Singapore
Having discovered Europe and other closeby countries for the last years, we felt the children to be in the right age for a hassle free (relatively) long haul travel. Bali had been in our thoughts for quite some time already and when affordable Swissair tickets to Singapore came on sale in September 2017, we did not think twice about buying them. Another dream was about to realize - we were going to visit Singapore, too!
"Mom, look, it is snowing!" said Martin on the morning of the day we are supposed to leave for Singapore. Living in the Cote d'Azur, the snow is extremely rare here and it is not the thing one wishes to see when about to take a long haul flight. Our flight to Zurich was leaving in the afternoon but we decided to leave to the airport earlier. There was an absolute chaos in the airport and our flight, of course, was cancelled. After waiting at the queue at Swissair counter for about an hour our fate was finally clear - no flights were leaving this day and we were rebooked to the Emirates flight leaving the next day - 20 hours late!
On our arrival at Singapore Changi airport in the early afternoon, we had to fill in a form, queue up for customs to have our photo and fingerprints taken, got our passports stamped and we were good to go. The Changi airport is very big, but super organized and spotlessly clean.
In Singapore we had opted to stay at the Marina Bay Sands hotel. It is a landmark hotel in Singapore and staying there was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The best rate was at the hotel own webpage, it is not cheap, but still an okay deal for the Club room, accommodating two adults and two kids under 12. We had initially booked for a two night stay, but due to the flight cancellation, it was reduced to one night. I called the hotel from France when I got to know about our flight situation and they were kind not to charge us the night we could not use.
Marina Bay Sands is a huge hotel, but the check in process was very smooth. We had reserved a Club King room. The Club rooms have a separate check-in area, they are situated on the higher floors and they give an access for two adults to Club 55, a lounge situated on the 55th floor, that serves breakfast, afternoon tea and pre-dinner drinks. The most famous feature of the hotel is definitely its rooftop infinity pool, available for hotel guests only. Our Club room was spacious, with a sofabed for the children to sleep on and a super comfortable king sized bed for us. The lounge and the bedroom could be separated with a sliding door. The bathroom was huge with a rainfall shower and a bath and Cavalli toiletries added a nice touch. The room was on the 53rd floor and had a view of Gardens by the Bay and the sea and what a view it was!
Champagne at Club 55 Lounge
Being hungry, we wanted to try something local for dinner and Gluttons Bay outdoor hawker center just a short walk away across the Helix bridge seemed like a good idea. We had several plates of noodles, chicken skewers and dim sum - all freshly made and delicious.
Gluttons Bay
On the Helix Bridge
There is a laser show with music every evening at the fountains of Marina Bay sands. It is beautiful and definitely worth a visit while in Singapore. Before dozing off in the (very comfortable) bed of our hotel room, we took a little walk in the Gardens by the Bay. The gigantic artificial trees looked magical all lit up in the evening. There was also a show with lights and music under the trees, but we were already too tired to watch it all.
Laser, fountain and music show by the bay
We were all up early (around 4am) in the morning due to jetlag, playing boardgames (we always bring cards, Dobble and Ligretto with us), watching the amazing sunrise over the bay from our 38th floor windows and waiting till the hotel breakfast opens at 6 am. The Club room has breakfast included for two people, we had to pay extra SGD 22 per child for the kids to have breakfast with us. There are three places to choose from for breakfast - The Rise restaurant in the lobby, Club 55 Lounge or by the infinity rooftop pool. As the Rise restaurant was the earliest of the three to open, we chose to eat there. The breakfast was buffet style, having both hot and cold, Asian and continental options. All-in-all an excellent, fresh and tasty spread of everything.
We really enjoyed our stay in Marina Bay Sands and wish we could have stayed longer.
Having arrived a bit early at the Changi airport for our flight to Bali gave us some time to look around the airport that has been selected the best in the world several years in a row. The airport is like all Singapore - clean, colourful, efficient and beautiful with lots of different options to eat and drink or have a walk around.
Singapore Changi airport
Bali, Ubud and around
The 2h 20min flight from Singapore to Denpasar, Bali with AirAsia went well. AirAsia is a comfortable Asian low cost airline, probably similar to EasyJet in Europe.
We arrived to Denpasar airport, the main gateway to Bali, in the late morning and decided to head directly to Ubud, where we would spend the next 4 days/3 nights. Ubud is considered to be the cultural and spiritual capital of Bali, situated inland, surrounded by rice terraces and jungle. The distance between the airport and Ubud is around 40 kms, but it took us about an hour by taxi - the roads are narrow and the traffic is sometimes heavy. We also got some Indonesian rupiahs on our arrival at the airport, the exchange rate being 1 EUR to approx. 16 000 IDR we felt having a lot of money in our pockets. Although the airport exchange rates are not good, we usually get some local currency there, even just enough to pay for the taxi ride and get us through the first day.
Not wanting to stay too far from the central Ubud, but still having some peace and quiet, we chose to stay in the Alaya Resort. Alaya Resort is situated a short walk from the Ubud center and Monkey Forest, but still far enough from the hustle and bustle. They also have their own little rice terrace. We had booked a connecting room - a double for the adults and a twin for the kids with a nice little terraces with forest views.
Our rooms in the Alaya Resort
After a couple of busy days full of travelling we decided to take it easy for the day - the kids had a swim in the pool of the hotel while the adults had a refreshing Bintang (local beer) in the hotel bar and later in the evening we went for a walk and dinner in Ubud.
Alaya Resort has a breakfast menu where one can choose between different breakfast options. This is the Balinese breakfast.
Having pretty limited time in Bali, but wishing to see as much as possible (and also considering travelling with two children) we had reserved a day with Bali Traditional Tours. Our driver/guide Wayan picked us up from the hotel at 9am. The car was clean and comfortable and had bottles of water for us to drink.
Before returning to the hotel, we made a quick stop at Tegenungan waterfall, but after a long day we were too tired to take a hike down. We also had a chance to sample some durian on the way and decided it was not our favourite.
Bali, Legian and around
Legian is not as busy as the party spot Kuta or not as posh as Seminyak, we found it a perfect place for a family. We chose to stay at the Pullman Legian - it is a nice hotel just across the road from the beach, and has two pools - the garden pool that is bigger and offers some shade and a rooftop infinity pool with beautiful sea views and a cocktail bar. Our room (one bedroom suite) was spacious - adults slept in the bedroom and the kids had the living room sofa and an extra bed we asked to add in the living room. The room also had a nice big terrace accessible from both rooms. The buffet breakfast of the hotel was excellent - a very good spread of everything, but we specially appreciated the different Balinese dishes we could try every day (the black rice pudding was amazing). The hotel also organized an open air cinema some evenings with big comfy bean bag seats for lounging and watching a movie (the movies are family friendly, we saw the BFG). In Legian we mostly wanted to relax, enjoy the pools and the beach with just a bit of sightseeing mixed in.
The beach across the road from the hotel was clean and wide, it had a couple of bars and was possible to rent sunbeds for the day or take surfing lessons. The width of the beach depended on the tides - sometimes it was really wide and the walk to the water's edge was long.
We also had a chance to have a beer with an old friend who lives in Seminyak at the moment - it was wonderful to find a familiar face so far from home.
Hotel pool
Not wanting to spend all the time lounging by the pool, wandering around in Kuta and chilling at the beach, we went to visit Pura Luhur Uluwatu Temple and Kecak dance spectacle at the temple at sunset. Uluwatu temple stands atop of a cliff above the Indian Ocean, in the southwestern end of Bali and there is a wonderful view from the temple, specially sunset time. Kecak is a form of Balinese hindu dance and music drama. Since its creation, it has been performed primarily by men. The dance is based on the story of the Ramayana, it is performed by a circle of as many as 150 performers, percussively chanting 'chak' and moving their hands and arms. We arrived some time before the spectacle began, that left us some time to walk around the temple grounds and admire the view. The temple also has lots of monkeys running around freely and stealing from people (there are warning signs). It is obligatory to wear a sarong in a temple in Bali if wearing shorts or short skirts, usually they give them at the temple entrance.
Having spent seven beautiful, eventful and busy days in Bali it was time to return to Singapore. We all loved Bali a lot and wish we could return someday. There was still a lot left to be discovered...
Singapore
Back in Singapore, we checked in to our hotel early (Grand Park Orchard, two Premier King rooms) to go to discover the city. The hotel was just off the Orchard road, the main shopping street in Singapore. We were not so interested in shopping and wanted to see the different parts of this amazing city. Probably the easiest way getting around Singapore is by MRT. The standard ticket costed 1.40 SDG and was rechargeable for up to 6 rides.
Waiting for the train, Singapore MRT
In the need of feeding the hungry bellies, our first stop was Chinatown, Maxwell Hawker center. We wanted to try the TianTian Haianese Chicken rice, made famous by chef Anthony Bourdain. Yes, there was a queue, but it was so worth the wait. The hawker centers are an excellent way to have cheap and delicious food in Singapore.
The Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown
In the evening we ate in the Chinatown food street, a covered street filled with food stalls - the choice was huge and everything was so good.
Our next day in Singapore was spent in the Singapore Zoo. Singapore Zoo has been at the list of world's top zoos for several years and we decided to take a look although we always prefer animals in their natural habitat rather than in captivation. Singapore Zoo is still unique and amazing to visit.
Make sure you have enough time and you are ready to walk a lot (there is a possibility of taking a small train), as we had 6 hours to visit the Zoo and
the River Safari and we really just made it. And we did not even have
time to see the shows!
The animals in the zoo are made to look like being close to their natural habitat. Our kids favourites were the dome with huge
bats (the Malayan flying foxes) flying around freely and the orangutans that were passing back and
forth over our heads.
I think the holiday is perfect when having a feeling of not wanting to leave. During our trip we did not miss home and we can not wait to return to Asia. After a 12-hour 50-minute flight from Singapore to Zurich, Europe seemed like completely different world. We had a wonderful time and we realized our kids are fantastic travel companions. New adventures to follow...
Anche questo รจ molto bello.
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