Viva Vivocity

 After Haw Par Villa, we took the subway (MRT) to Vivocity, a mall on the Harbourfront.  Our original plan was to take the monorail over to see the "Papa Merlion", but the boys wanted to play in the wading pool and do paddleboats instead, and we also enjoyed the sunset over the water.  Of course, James fell down in the water and Matthew got splashed, so they were both pretty well soaked by the time they got out (and we didn't bring extra clothes along).

We had dinner at Food Republic, which is set up like an indoor hawker center (lots of different food stalls).  Matthew picked an Indonesian place because he liked the looks of the curry, and it turned out to be a delicious choice!

After dinner, the boys were exhausted, so we called a cab after it looked the like the taxi line wasn't moving very fast. James saved the day by spotting the number of the cab that was sent to get us -- other people hadn't realized it was on call, and had already hopped in!  Fortunately we were able to catch the cabbie in time (although we did feel a bit bad for the other people).

Tigers and Dragons

 The boys had a great time at Haw Par Villa yesterday!  They loved all the steps to climb around on and seeing all the tigers, dragons, and other assorted people and animals.  (We even arrived in time for Mike to go through the Ten Courts of Hell!) James liked finding dragons, and Matthew insisted for a while that he could read Chinese. :)

We had the place almost to ourselves.  The taxi driver told us that when they used to charge admission, it was packed, and now that it's free people don't come as much any more.  :)  (Apparently they also used to have shows and so on as well.)

There were also a ton of turtle swimming around in the lake -- we wished we'd had something to feed them!

Happy 4th!

Happy Independence Day from Singapore!

Quack Quack

 We wanted to do something low impact for Mike and the boys' first day (yesterday), but we also wanted them to get some of the flavor of Singapore.  So after the swimming pool, we went on a one hour Duck Tour, which is partially on land and partially in the water.  The water part was the best -- we had great views of the Merlion, Marina Bay Sands, and the Gardens by the Bay.

We were first in line, so we got the best seats for views -- but they were also in the sun, so it was hot as well!  (That's why we have red faces -- not sunburn!)  We really enjoyed it, although James enjoyed it less than the rest of us, because he was getting pretty sleepy by then.)

Afterwards, we visited the bottom part of the Fountain of Wealth, which was also fun.  (And then we waited a longish time for a taxi to get home, which was not quite so fun!)

First Day

 The boys had a hard time falling asleep last night, but they had fun today!  The pool and play area were a big hit.  I was concerned that they would be too old for the play set, but it turned out to make a good ninja course. :)