Day 1 of the Southeast Asia adventure and the Griswalds are off again. Unfortunately I haven’t been feeling amazing the past 2 days with a cough and sore throat - have tested and it’s not Covid which is a plus.

Woke up early at 4.45 after a restless night which always happens when you have an early flight booked, anyway thanks to Sonia’s amazing packing skills we were well organised and got out the door at 6:02 for the Uber as planned.

Unfortunately a bloody big truck has shut the tunnel so we’ve have to be diverted but hopefully we’ll be OK.

Made it to the airport and through check in easily premium economy still had dedicated check in 😀. Through the automated customs check point and then into the American Express lounge for some brekkie although kids didn’t eat much.

Onto the plane and Thomas and I are together on one side and Mila and Son on the other. Premium economy isn’t bad at all and we have a fair bit of legroom, a nice big TV and it’s comfortable. Watch a couple of movies, lunch and a quick snooze and boom we are here and 1 hour early which is nice !!

We arrive in Singapore, all the bags made it and we clear customs quickly and efficiently. Grab a cab who makes all 4 of us sit in the back and a bag in the front - writing this a few days later I now know we should use GRAB in Singapore as it’s cheaper and much nicer cars. Anyway it’s only 15 minutes to the hotel which is right in the thick of things at Intercontinental Bugis. We have been upgraded to a family suite which means the kids get their own room with cool little bunk beds with a slide in the middle and a Teepee on the floor, they love

As part of our hotel package we get access to Club Intercontinental which means we have breakfast here, afternoon tea from 3-5pm and cocktails and Canapés from 6-8pm everyday. We pop down for afternoon tea which is scones, sandwiches etc etc. then we head to the pool for a swim and I read my book for an hour. Currently reading Stanley Tuccis book about cooking.

We pop down to “The Club” for cocktails and I try the famous Singapore Sling - way too sweet but at least it was free and not $48 which is how much they charge at Raffles.

We walked to Raffles where we had dinner booked in their lobby but they wanted $45 for a kids pasta so I refused to pay and we left, jet lag had kicked in and everyone tired and cranky so we headed back to our hotel where we ate at the Italian.

I haven’t been feeling good, have a terrible cough and sore throat, may need to go to the doctor I think.

Both kids fall asleep at the table and Thomas refuses to eat his burgers as they had a tomato on them when they came out 😩.

Bed.

First full day Singapore.

Everyone wakes up at 6am as that is 9am Sydney time.

Sonia and I are looking at phones researching what to do today and kids watch some Netflix so by the time we get downstairs for brekkie it’s 8.30am. We have a lovely breakfast and kids have waffles with Maple syrup. We decide to ask the Conciege for some advice on what to do.

Head down to see Lynn the Concierge and end up having to wait for nearly 45 mins as an older Aussie couple are getting her to book a heap of stuff and having a right ole chit chat !!

She suggest the BIG BUS to give us a tour of Singapore and a lay of the land. I don’t feel great and have had a white nights sleep coughing some nasty stuff so feel I should go to the doctor and Lynn tells me where to go.

We buy the bus tickets for $200 !! For a day which is expensive and finally get on the bus at 11am. It takes us through Chinatown and around Singapore and then we jump off at the last stop and change to the yellow lines which takes us to Gardens by The Bay. We jump off and walk into the gardens which are all very beautiful and have these amazing Trees which are water towers that recycle water. There is quite a lot to see at Gardens with various ticket options. I decide to become a friend of the Bay which is a yearly pass like we get for Taronga which is $170 for a family which ends up being free best option as it give us unlimited access and we can go into the Avatar forest.

We go into the Cloud Forest which has an Avatar exhibition on and it’s pretty amazing with mist everywhere and we get to become a Navi in a special machine and also fly one of the birds from the movie. It’s a fun coupe of hours and we all enjoy it.

After that we walked to Satay By The Bay which is a Hawker food court and Thomas and I smash up about 30 Satay sticks he loves them - we get Chicken and Pork and a couple of big Tiger beers. Jet lag still in play as Mila falls asleep on the table and doesn’t eat a thing 😩

We jump back on the bus and I get off at Raffles City Mall to go the doctor and Sonia keeps going on the yellow line to see more of the city.

Doctor sees me after a negative Covid Teat and gives me antibiotics and some cough mixture.

Sonia arrives back after both kids fell asleep on the bus and we decide to just eat canapés at the club for dinner for free. We order room service to the club for the kids which is only $10 each 😀.

We have the Night Safari booked tonight at 19:15 which is the last thing anybody wants to do as we’re all pooped but we get a grab all the way out there 40 mins. When you arrive you get in a big queue and then a tram takes you around the park for 45 mins. We got to see Tigers, Lions, elephants, hyenas and lots of other stuff. It’s pretty cool as you can’t see any of the wire of cages at nighttime.

We get back to the main area only to find out the show is fully booked for the 9pm show and Sonia is NOT HAPPY! Luckily she chats to the guy at the door and manages to wangle us in !!

Then we walk back to the pick up area orde a grab and then drive the 25 mins back toy the hotel. Long day !

Bed.

Breakfast at the club and then we decide to get 1 more use out of our Bus pass so we head down to Chinatown and have a wander around. There are lots of Nick nack stores and cheap trinkets and it’s hot !

Thomas and Sonia \240get a fresh coconut and then we walk to a nearby street which looks like it must be a big party Street at night time and we end up getting some Japanese for lunch. Spot a funny pubc called Coq and Balls !

We wander around a couple of malls for 20 minutes and then we catch a grab back to the hotel, I walk back as feel like I need some exercise.

Chill by the pool for a few hours and read a book then get changed for dinner. We have a $200 International dining credit with Amex that we are trying to use up and after much searching we decide to try a Greek place down at Clarke Quay. Grab a grab there, the whole place and the restaurant need a food scrub and the meal is very dissapointing.

We jump in a cab back over to Gardens by the Bay as we’ve booked tickets to Christmas Wonderland. The cab driver rips me off and charges me double claiming there is a city tax because it’s NYE - prick.

Christmas wonderland is OK lots of lights and music but it’s not amazing !! We get to use our passes again and go up the skywalk which is pretty cool and has nice views. Then we head back in to Avatar to see it all lit up at night (told you my annual passes were a good idea).

Catch a grab back to the hotels and Thomas is tired but tells us to wake him up for midnight. The fireworks and a cool drone show are on outside our room and we can see a fair bit of it. We watch the Sydney fireworks replay on YouTube and amazingly we make it to midnight, wake up Tom who is totally stuffed and go down to level 2 to watch the Balloon drop at midnight !! happy New Year !

1st Day of 2023.

Sonia is determined to have Chili Mud Crab today so after some research I book us in for lunch at Palm Seafood at 1.30pm which is down on the water at Robertson Quay in the xxx

We have brekkie and then decide just to walk the ahppping malls next door to our hotel for a few hours.

Lunch is right in the water but it’s hot !! We have the famous chili mud crab and remember what a pain it is to eat !! Expensive - $14 a beer and the crab js $160.

Back to the hotel and chill by the pool, Sonia pack the bags for tomorrows trip to Cambodia.

Up early today as we are heading out to Kulan Elephant Sanctuary. We have a quick brekkie and then grab a Tuk Tuk to the Angkor Village Hotel which is our meeting point.

We jump in a mini bus and then drive about an hour through the countryside to the Sanctuary.

Mammot.