Singapore – May 9, 2022 (Author: J)
After a great first evening in Singapore, I slept peacefully until about 3 a.m. and then in fits and starts until around 5 a.m. The beds at the Fullerton are quite comfy, so the culprit was jetlag. By 5:30, P and D were also awake, so we decided to get a very early start. The trouble, of course, was that nothing was open. Even after enjoying the rain shower and marveling at the toilet of the future (the Fullerton toilet lid automatically raises when you enter the bathroom and has a heated seat, built in bidet, and self-cleaning feature), we still had 30 minutes until breakfast started at 7. Since free breakfast was included in our room rate, we decided it was worth waiting for.
We went down to the lobby early and poked around in the Heritage Gallery, which has a small display on the history of the building. At about 10 to 7, we positioned ourselves outside the restaurant and did our best to look pitiful and hungry. There were already a group of business travelers waiting for their meal. (During our stay, it seemed that most of the hotel guests were there for business judging by their attire). We were the second party seated when Town restaurant opened.
Town restaurant is located on the lobby level of the Fullerton and has a choice of indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the river. After a 2-year hiatus, the breakfast buffet is operational again and has a wonderful array of food. On the upper level, you will find cheeses, meats, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal and muesli. On the lower level, there were assorted pastries and rotating hot options including daily dim sum and Indian options. Everything was well-marked so that I could identify veg options. Drink options included juices, assorted milks (including soy), tea, and a machine that made coffee and cappuccino to order. Although the buffet has more than enough options to make a complete meal, you can also order a main course from a menu of Western and Asian selections. I was excited to see that kaya toast was an option and ordered that. D had fried eggs and P ordered the pancakes. I wasn’t that excited about my kaya toast, to be honest. It was the variation made with a soft roll spread very thinly with kaya jam; I suspect that I would have been happier if I had been able to try the same jam with crunchy toast and butter. P was much more excited about his breakfast because the pancakes were served with a side of ice cream.
After stuffing ourselves, we set out for the day’s activities. The plan was to visit Gardens by the Bay before it got too hot and continue on to Marina Bay Sands to visit the ArtScience Museum and look for swim googles. (P’s goggles turned out to be the one thing we forgot to pack). Although Gardens by the Bay is a walkable distance from the Fullerton, I was wary of taking a long walk in the heat before walking around the gardens in the heat. We therefore decided to travel by metro.
The closest MRT station to the Fullerton is Raffles, which is a mere 5 minutes from the hotel. We had a general sense of where we were going because we had passed the station the prior evening, but I was still happy to have the crutch of Google Maps. We arrived at the station, stepped onto the escalator, and were shocked to find ourselves rocketing down into the station. Escalators in Singapore are much faster than those in the US, it seems. In the station, we checked a map to confirm our route and then proceeded to the turnstiles. By incessantly watching every video about Singapore that popped up on YouTube, I learned that you can use a credit card or phone that is contactless payment enabled to ride the subway. I wasn’t sure if you could tap two people through the entrance with one card, so I brought two. I tapped the first one, the little plastic doors opened, and P scurried through. Then I tapped my second card and walked through behind him. (Note that signs in the metro advise you to pull your card out of your wallet before tapping to avoid having multiple cards charged at once). At that point, we realized that D had not followed us. He was stuck on the opposite side of the turnstiles ineffectually waiving his credit card around. “Just tap it where it says to tap,” I barked sweetly. “I am tapping,” he replied. More ineffectual waiving followed and then a confession. “I’ve never used the contactless payment option before.” “You literally just tap,” I offered helpfully. More waiving. At that point, I attempted to tap the card for D, but it is physically impossible for someone who has already entered the subway to let someone in behind them – assuming no one in your group is an octopus. Fortunately, by this point, we had attracted the attention of an MRT employee who patiently showed D how credit cards work. We were finally on our way.
The MRT is well marked and easy to navigate provided that you know which line you are looking for and which terminus you are headed towards. Having lived in the Boston area for a number of years, we were interested to note the differences between our MBTA system and the Singapore MRT. For example, the platform in Singapore is marked so that those waiting for the train know to stand out of the way of those exiting. Once the doors open, people start shuffling on to the train as others are coming off – but this is done in an orderly fashion with everyone keeping to their assigned boxes on the platform flowchart. Unlike the MBTA, the MRT is also free of mystery liquids and offensive odors, the trains come on a regular schedule, and we did not see a single train on fire during our 4-day stay in Singapore. All in all, even though you can’t drink your Dunkin’ jumbo iced coffee on the MRT, we would give it a slight edge over the MBTA.
After a short and enjoyable subway ride, we arrived at the Marina Bay station and followed the signs to Gardens by the Bay. The exit put us right at the edge of the gardens; I was delighted to see some SuperTrees peeking out in the distance. Since we had no particular destination in mind this morning, we decided to just start walking. Our route took us through the Malay, Indian and Chinese gardens. We saw few humans but heard plenty of birds chirping and saw various small critters darting around. Our route eventually took us to the Flower and Cloud Forest Domes. I knew from my research that the Cloud Forest Dome was closed for maintenance, but I agreed to P’s request to visit the Flower Dome. We bought tickets at the ticket booth, put on our masks and head into the dome. The first thing I saw was a sign asking us to excuse appearances while a new exhibit was being put up. I had a momentary twinge of regret, sure that we had visited on the wrong day. But my concerns were soon alleviated because just one small portion of the dome was closed. The rest was ready to explore and we had it all to ourselves for most of our visit.
We spent a solid hour exploring the flower dome and then exited through the gift shop where we purchased some drinks and a magnet. Then it was off to the ArtScience Museum, a walk that took us through more of the outdoor gardens. (Although we kept a sharp eye out for wildlife, particularly otters, we only saw more birds and lizards).
The ArtScience Museum, which is in the building that looks like a flower, hosts a mix of permanent and temporary exhibits. They are separately ticketed. We all wanted to see the Future World exhibit, but D, who is an anime fan, also wanted to visit the temporary exhibit on Attack on Titan. I suggested that he visit that exhibit on his own, but he was fairly adamant that we join him. We therefore bought combo tickets for the two exhibits for all three of us. Your spoiler is that this was a waste of money. The Attack on Titan exhibit is designed for fans of the series and held no interest for P and I, who had no idea what we were looking at. As a result, P sped through it at top speed, leaving D to go through the exhibit on his own as I chased after our child.
But before P and I didn’t enjoy the Attack on Titan exhibit, we spent some time in Future World. This is the exhibit that includes the Instagram-famous tunnel of light, along with some interactive features like animated walls you can add your drawings to, and pits full of light up balls. We had fun playing with the exhibits, but I ultimately do not think that the museum was worth the price of admission given its size.
After visiting the museum, we headed next door to the shops at Marina Bay Sands. We were not able to find googles for P, but we did find a coffee shop to grab some sandwiches. They were nothing special but did the job after we were unable to find suitable veg options in the food court.
After lunch, we took the metro back to the Fullerton. (The alternative was a 20-minute walk). One fun amenity that the hotel provides is a free daily ice cream scoop for each child staying at the hotel. P was very interested in enjoying this amenity, so we went back to the room to pick up his ice cream pass and then went back to the lobby to acquire said ice cream. We felt weird taking up seats in the dining area to eat a scoop of free ice cream, so we decided to go downstairs so that P could enjoy his treat near the koi pond.
After P ate his ice cream, we went back to the room where I did some laundry in the sink (we travel carry-on only, so I bring “Sink Suds” detergent and wash some of our clothing every few days) and then took a nap. D also had a nap. P has been steadfastly opposed to naps since the age of 18 months. He played on D’s ipad while we slept. After nap time, we decided to check out the hotel pool.
The Fullerton has an infinity pool beautifully situated overlooking the river. It’s not a huge pool, but it was never crowded while we were there. Despite the lack of goggles, we had a nice time swimming and relaxing on our loungers. (There is no shade over the pool, so we took enforced shade breaks under our sun umbrella to reapply sunscreen). Unfortunately, there was construction going on nearby, so the soundtrack to our swim was incessant jackhammering.
We finished our swim in time to get dressed for dinner. Because it was my 40th birthday, I had made dinner reservations at National Kitchen, a Peranakan restaurant located in the National Gallery. Aside from having a separate vegetarian menu, the restaurant had the benefit of being walking distance from our hotel. It was an enjoyable walk across the river and through an area containing a number of colonial buildings. Although the entire walk was about 7 minutes, P asked to stop for multiple rest breaks – a sure sign that his ongoing nap boycott was having consequences. Fortunately, we had plenty of time, so stopping to sit and admire our surroundings was not a problem. We still arrived at the National Gallery a few minutes before 6.
To get to National Kitchen, you need to walk through portions of the National Gallery, which gave us a whirlwind tour of some of the exhibits as we looked for the restaurant. We were seated promptly at 6. It was definitely a good thing that we had reservations because the restaurant is small and every table was full. We ordered tau hu goreng (tofu with peanut sauce), meatless meatball rendang, and eggplant. Although it wasn’t clear to us from the menu, the dishes are intended to be served family style, so this was a good assortment of food. Our server brought everything out quickly because she could see the P was barely holding himself upright. This was a fun call back to D’s 40th birthday, when a 5-year-old P literally tipped over and fell asleep at a restaurant in Edinburgh. P did perk up for dessert, as he is wont to do.
After our dinner, we had a pleasant walk back to the hotel. (The temperature really drops once the sun sets). Because it had been such a great birthday, I decided to forgive my family for forgetting to wish me a happy birthday. I did, of course, make a note to shame them about it in my trip report.
Travel Monkeys 