June. How is it we've been here for six months already? Pat and I have a list of places we need to visit before heading back stateside: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Milford Sound. We even joke we'll catch one of those cruises to Antarctica that leave from Ivercargill (nevermind the $30K+ price tag). So when we discovered Air New Zealand was having a sale on flights to Asia DURING a time we had a random two-week vacation AND there was an ultrasound conference in Singapore the same week, it seemed like a no-brainer to combine these wonderful coincidences into a little trip we have affectionately titled, "Sleeping Through Southeast Asia."
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| Auckland --> New Plymouth |
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| Boat Ride from Batam to Telunas Island |
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| Check-in, Singapore |
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| Bassinet Seats -- Why hadn't I heard about this before?! |
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| Overnight Singapore --> Auckland |
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| Ferry Singapore --> Indonesia |
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| Finally home, sleeping off the jetlag |
After a few runs of these long-haul flights with young kids, we've discovered overnight flights (even though everyone sleeps poorly) are much preferred to trying to keep a toddler contained and entertained for 9+ hours. So a few Mondays ago, we caught an 8pm flight from New Plymouth to Auckland, and then a 12:30am flight from Auckland to Singapore. Arrived in Singapore 6am, pretty delirious, but excited to see a part of the world we probably otherwise wouldn't have visited (it's a 19-hour flight LAX --> Singapore).
Singapore, for those who don't know, is this tiny city-state and island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.
Brief history: Settled in the early 19th century by the British as a trading post for the East India Trading Company, briefly occupied by Japan during WWII, became independent from the UK and made part of Malaysia in 1963, who expelled it two years later when it became its own sovereign nation. At this point, Singapore realized it was this lonely, dopey little country, with no natural resources and decided the only way forward was to dedicate all its energy into becoming a financial hub. Today, it's consistently ranked as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, and most business-friendly countries on the planet, as well as one of the least corrupt (along with New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries). In the same vein, Singapore is extremely wealthy -- it has the world's highest percentage of millionaires, and it's estimated every 1 in 6 households has at least 1 million US Dollars in disposable wealth (Geez!). This, it seems, would explain the miles and miles of high-end stores, fancy cars, and expensive wines that really hit you in the face when you arrive. Not that Patrick complained while partaking in the free thousand-dollar-per-bottle whiskey tasting sessions at the airport.
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| In front of the 2-story Christian Dior store |
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| High Tea at the Hilton |
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| Nighttime view from the Bay |
We did get to spend one night in the "Downtown Core," just to get the vibe, but our first nights were spent in the dingier Chinatown (75% of Singaporeans are of Chinese descent), which definitely has a more cultural feel to it. Think: temples, mosques, underground fish marts, street vendors. Even being in the "poorer" part of town, we felt completely safe and at-ease. Singapore is known as a bit of a nanny state: you can't eat or drink on subways without triggering a $500 fine, it's illegal (for the most part) to sell chewing gum, there are mandatory death sentences for drug trafficking (and for murder), and there is a huge governmental push to "be nice to tourists," which I guess was great for us.
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| No durians (because they're smelly) |
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| No making out |
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| Fruit Market |
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| I forgot to mention how insanely hot it was the whole time. Lots of beers and smoothies during the midday sun. |
Truthfully, Singapore was great, and we were lucky to have a reason to check it out. The food was great, the people were amazing (Quenton got no fewer than 5-10 requests to be in photographs with the locals -- I guess a blue eyed, red headed toddler is an oddity), and we even arrived during Singapore's annual "Great Singapore Sale," so got some nice running shoes at around 1/3 New Zealand prices.
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| I get all the ladies. Also, I will cry and scream if you don't let me hang onto the subway handhold. |
What Singapore doesn't have, however, is nice beaches. For that, we took a 45-minute ferry ride from Singapore to Batam, Indonesia, and then another 2-hour ride on a modified fishing boat for one night on this unreal private island (http://www.telunasresorts.com/private-island/). I'll just let the pictures do the talking.
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| Modified fishing boats |
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| Villages on stilts |
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| Private deck |
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| Well, hello, empty beach |
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| Taking it in |
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| Infinity Pool |
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| Last sunset |
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| The Grand Lodge |
All-in-all, a pretty whirlwind trip, but definitely worth it. We're probably going to take a break from international travel for the time being (I think the kids are still recovering from the jetlag), but good news is Uncle Jon will be here in two weeks, so be sure to look for updates from our first visitor!
