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Some of you might know that I was born in Singapore. I left for Australia when I was 22. Been in the US since 1993. I haven't been back to Australia. While living in Australia, I stopped over in Singapore on my way home from Europe. Was with my 18 month old first born. It was hot and crowded. I hated it so I cancelled my hotel reservation and caught the first plane back to Australia.
Last summer, I went back to Singapore. This time with the two younger boys. If they weren't with me, I would have left. While it was fun, though emotional catching up with family I hadn't seen for 30+ years. I didn't really enjoy myself. There was no feeling of coming home as the place is unrecognizable. I should have prepared myself and made believe I was going there for the first time. The middle child (17 years old) was doing a 2 week work experience at a hospital there and my eldest was meeting us there for his birthday (4th of July), so I couldn't even shorten the vacation.
The only thing I really enjoyed was the food. Still cheap and available everywhere. We did the tourist thing ... Singapore Sling at the Raffles, chilli crabs, rode the cable car to Sentosa, visited the Marina Bay Sands. If anyone is visiting, I have 4 subway cards with money still in them available.
Can I give a shout out for the Holiday Inn near the Istana? We were supposed to stay with my elder sister but since she's still a bitch, we left and stayed at the Holiday Inn. The staff were always friendly and went that extra mile. I guess it was strange to have us stay there for 3+ weeks. They upgraded us with their "executive package" (free buffet breakfast, afternoon tea and cocktail hours, free wifi & use of the executive lounge, free laundry for 2 pieces of clothing) the first 2 weeks and gave us the Club Suite & "executive package" the last week. When I mentioned that the towels they provided were small for boys that were 6 ft tall and built like footballers, they bought bath sheets for us. They also gave us a big bar of soap. They also made sure I had fresh fruit, chocolates (lindt) and bottle of wine in the room. Of course I tipped very generously
I don't think I would ever go back again.
Last summer, I went back to Singapore. This time with the two younger boys. If they weren't with me, I would have left. While it was fun, though emotional catching up with family I hadn't seen for 30+ years. I didn't really enjoy myself. There was no feeling of coming home as the place is unrecognizable. I should have prepared myself and made believe I was going there for the first time. The middle child (17 years old) was doing a 2 week work experience at a hospital there and my eldest was meeting us there for his birthday (4th of July), so I couldn't even shorten the vacation.
The only thing I really enjoyed was the food. Still cheap and available everywhere. We did the tourist thing ... Singapore Sling at the Raffles, chilli crabs, rode the cable car to Sentosa, visited the Marina Bay Sands. If anyone is visiting, I have 4 subway cards with money still in them available.
Can I give a shout out for the Holiday Inn near the Istana? We were supposed to stay with my elder sister but since she's still a bitch, we left and stayed at the Holiday Inn. The staff were always friendly and went that extra mile. I guess it was strange to have us stay there for 3+ weeks. They upgraded us with their "executive package" (free buffet breakfast, afternoon tea and cocktail hours, free wifi & use of the executive lounge, free laundry for 2 pieces of clothing) the first 2 weeks and gave us the Club Suite & "executive package" the last week. When I mentioned that the towels they provided were small for boys that were 6 ft tall and built like footballers, they bought bath sheets for us. They also gave us a big bar of soap. They also made sure I had fresh fruit, chocolates (lindt) and bottle of wine in the room. Of course I tipped very generously
I don't think I would ever go back again.
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