Baby Explores Singapore

I quietly celebrated my birthday this year with my family chasing merlions in Singapore. It was Leji's first trip out of the country so we were all thrilled.

We booked our flight via Singapore Airlines because I heard they offer the best service for kids.  We had to pay for Leji too (for a few dollars less than an adult's discounted fare) despite her being less than two years old and even if they mentioned they didn't have baby food onboard. But the trip was delightful for her and she enjoyed my silver utensils, beef, ice cream and orange juice so I guess it was worth it.  

We were able to conveniently bring her stroller up to the plane's entrance; when we got off the plane it was also brought to the door ready for pickup. Talk about convenience! 

We left Manila as soon as the sun was setting and she was so amazed how the light illuminated my face from the window.  They provided a bassinet with a soft Dory toy for her but she could barely sleep because of her excitement in seeing the clouds in various colors. She only managed to nap on my chest 10minutes before landing!

We rolled away to our hotel (Mandarin Orchard) via train and Leji was amazed with all the elevators and lights. It's a cool city for kids on strollers.  

We got discount coupons from Mandarin Orchard (c/o the portable hotel phone with free calls to anyone in selected countries including the Philippines) so we took advantage of the roundtrip cable car and explored the sights from point to point in one day.

Here are some of the most memorable spots:

1. Bells of happiness at Faber Peak

We bought two bells at Faber Peak: one gold bell for wishing and one silver bell for Leji's stroller.   She had so much fun with the bells. But I should have brought my own fine tipped marker; the one I got from the store dried up too quickly in my bag. 

 2. Madame Tussauds

Leji was annoyed that she wasn't allowed to ride the boat inside; she refused to have her hand cast in cold wax (it was supposed to be a freebie :/). Then, she got scared of the politicians and the theater exibit. But there were some wax figures she particularly liked:

Breakfast at Tiffany's

ET!

"Pfffshhh!!!" Spiderman!!!

We got so hungry after taking all these photos-- we ended up in KFC because we couldn't find the next elevator to get to the cable car. We had to carry Leji and her stroller over three non-working escalators.  We were surprised that Singapore has its share of non-working stuff in a famous tourist spot :/

3. Fountains

Oh my, Leji couldn't look away from the fountains. All of her shots with water looked like this:

4. Candylicious

I try to limit her sugar intake so we ended up just taking photos in front of this magnificent store.  It reminded me of Willy Wonka and Hansel and Gretel.

5. Universal Studios

Leji's still not allowed to ride most of the attractions in Universal so I guess we just have to come back some other time.  She still loved the globe; she likes all things round and colorful.

Leji and I had so much fun!

 Her smile at the end of the day made it all worthwhile :)