Travel Monkeys

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 7

May 13, 2022: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Author: J)

view from our room at Shangri La Tanjung Aru

After 5 wonderful nights at the Fullerton, it was time to check out. Because we had an afternoon flight to Kota Kinabalu (the only flight I could find between Singapore and KK at the time I booked), we were in no rush. We began the day with a leisurely breakfast at Town. I decided that we would finally take advantage of Town’s patio overlooking the river, so we requested an outdoor table. Although it was already muggy, the patio had large fans to circulate the air, making outdoor dining somewhat comfortable. The opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds of Singapore waking up one final time made up for the humidity and bugs.

Our breakfast at Town was excellent, as usual, and we were sad to say goodbye to the hosts and waitstaff who had treated us so well during our stay. Afterward, we headed back to our room one final time to grab our suitcases and do the compulsory sweep of the room to look for forgotten items. When we emerged from the elevators into the lobby, we were immediately greeted by a bellman who offered to hold our bags while we waited for our ride. We took him up on that offer, as well as an offer to call a taxi for us. Just moments after our bags were whisked away, we were told that our taxi was ready. “Now we’ll have to wait for our bags,” I said. I was wrong. The bell staff was already loading them into the taxi when we went outside.

The ride to the airport was quick, giving us plenty of time to check into our flight. With covid protocols, we had not been able to check in online. I’m not sure why because no one at Air Asia verified our vaccination documents, instead taking our word for it that we had the proper paperwork and had downloaded the MySejahtera app. The next thing to deal with was luggage. Although we were travelling with only carry-ons, I was worried because we knew that one of them was over the maximum weight. We decided that the thing to do would be to check it and carry on the other two. However, I made this call too late, and we missed the deadline to buy a checked bag online. That meant that we needed to wait for an agent.

When we explained the situation to the agent, she felt guilty charging us for a checked bag. She suggested that we remove some items from the bag to make it lighter and she would check it as a carry on. So we took items from our overweight bag and moved them into our other suitcases, rendering those overweight. Then we checked the compliant bag and carried on the two overweight bags.

With that pointless reshuffling of our possessions out of the way, we went through immigration and security and located our gate. Then, because we were so early, we decided to wander around the terminal a bit. We started at a small food court where P had some pizza. Having once again not eaten his breakfast, he was hungry for elevenses. We then explored the cactus garden, which serves double-duty as the smoking area. Finally, we poked our heads into a few shops before resigning ourselves to spend the rest of the wait sitting outside the gate area.

The flight to KK left only a little behind schedule and was, on whole, more pleasant that my prior dealings with Air Asia had led me to expect. Upon arrival in KK, I turned on my phone to find a Whatsapp message letting us know that our airport transfer was running late. Fortunately, the line for immigration was tremendous. After a long wait in line, we presented our passports and proof of vaccination (downloading MySejahtera was apparently on the honor system) and, much to my relief, were allowed to proceed into Malaysia. Finding our driver proved to be the next challenge, but we were able to identify him with the help of a photo that he texted me.

Kid’s side of the room in the family suite

The drive to Shangri-La Tanjung Aru was quick, as was check in. With all of the delays at the airport, it was after 4 by the time we arrived – pretty close to our 5:30 reservation at the Sunset Bar. We headed to our room where we decided to put our swimsuits on under our clothing so that we could go swimming after our reservation. (The pool at the Shangri-La closes early).

On our way to the Sunset Bar, we stopped to play with some of the lawn games that the hotel has out for guests. P’s favorite was a supersized version of pool where you kick a soccer ball into other balls. Just before 5:30, we arrived at Sunset Bar, which is an outdoor bar built on a platform that juts out into the South China Sea. We were shown to our sun lounger and settled in. The first thing that we noticed was that the views were wonderful, although taking them in required squinting into the sun. The second thing that we noticed was that the sun lounger was really uncomfortable.

When the server came by to take our order, it became apparent that there had been a misunderstanding regarding our reservation. When I booked our spot, I was told that there was a per table minimum if we wanted to order from the a la carte menu. However, the bar apparently does not offer that option anymore, requiring everyone to buy a package that allows each guest to choose one drink and one food item from a limited menu. The pina colada I was trying to order was not on that menu. The server decided to bend the rules and let us order a la carte, which meant I got my pina colada. When the drink arrived, I was immediately taken with its presentation; it was served in a cute little coconut emblazoned with the bar’s logo. Then I took a sip and became less enamored. The drink was more or less entirely rum. While I know that many people would be happy with such a strong drink, I had been hoping for something more coconutty.

After spending 30 minutes at the bar squinting into the sun and nibbling on some bar snacks, P and I decided we would head out for a swim. D said he would stay to finish the drinks and would meet us at the pool. P and I had a pleasant swim and then bought ourselves some ice cream. The views of the sunset from the pool area were beautiful. (Although I know that the Sunset Bar is highly rated, I would personally recommend skipping it and enjoying the sunset from one of the many less expensive and more comfortable locations elsewhere at the resort).

When the pool closed and there was still no sign of D, we decided to head to the room to look for him. He wasn’t there. We waited a bit. Still no sign of D. Although logic told us that there weren’t many places that D could have gone, we were starting to worry. We decided to head back to the Sunset Bar to look for him there. At the bar, we didn’t find D. What we did find was an unpaid bar tab, which we settled; no one at the bar could remember when D had left, though. By this point, I was angry. But with no other obvious place to look for D, we headed back to the room.

D arrived shortly after we did. He had apparently had a lovely time watching the sun set while little fish jumped out of the ocean – so lovely that he had no memory of his promise to meet us at the pool after he finished his drink. He had instead ordered more drinks and stayed at the bar until the sun went down. Words were exchanged. Eventually we called a truce and put on a soccer game for P while D and I read. Both P and D passed out with the game on and could not be budged when it was time for lights out. That’s how I came to spend our first night in Borneo in the bunk beds in P’s room. It was a tough choice, but I went with the bottom bunk.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 6

May 12, 2022 – Singapore (Author: J)

Our last full day in Singapore followed a now familiar pattern: up early and ready for breakfast by 7:30, greeted warmly and overfed by the staff at Town, ready for adventure by 9. Our original plan for this morning was to visit Sentosa, but we decided against it after researching operating hours for the attractions. Many – including the aquarium, which D wanted to visit after watching the Singapore Airlines arrival video — were still operating on a limited schedule because of low pandemic crowds, I assume. While we certainly could have found something to do on Sentosa, we decided to instead stick closer to the Fullerton.

P voted for visiting a museum and, to my surprise, selected the National Museum of Singapore. The museum was a doable 15-minute walk from the Fullerton, so we decided – over P’s objection – to walk. We were no more than a few blocks from the hotel when P began complaining that he was thirsty. He hadn’t had anything to drink at breakfast; eating and drinking when meals are actually available has always been anathema to him. I opened my mouth to argue, but soon realized that I was wasting my breathe. Instead, I promised that we would look for one of the many drink vending machines that Singapore conveniently has along the sidewalk. (As it turned out, we had already passed the only ones along our route).

I had selected a walking route that took us through Fort Canning Park, a hilltop park full of historical sights and gardens. Unfortunately, if you are going to enjoy a hilltop park, you need to get to the top of a hill. That meant climbing an imposingly steep staircase. Despite P’s attempts to quit and turn around, we made it to the top of the stairs and set out through the park. Along the way, we stopped to swing on a bench swing, take photos of birds, and look at a display about archeological excavation at the park. (The hill on which the park sits was once the site of a 14^th century palace; a portion dig sight has been retained – safely covered with a clear top – so that park visitors can view it).

Park mural of important events in pre-Colonial Singapore history

There was a lot more to see at the park, but P was getting increasingly cranky about the lack of beverages, so we continued on to the museum. We arrived just as the museum was opening, purchased our tickets and headed to the café. Then we waited because – though the café said it opened at 10 – there were no humans in sight. Finally, we went back to the ticket counter to ask; we learned that the café would not be opening until 11. We tried to convince P to drink some tap water from the bathroom, but he rejected that suggestion, which was probably for the best.

Since we had quite a while before the café opened, we headed into the Singapore History Gallery. The displays in the gallery trace the history of Singapore from pre-colonial times to present day. The gallery had a nice selection of artifacts displayed in interesting ways. We were most surprised to see a bell baring the familiar words “Revere Boston.” Apparently, Paul Revere’s daughter was married to the first American consul to Singapore, so Revere sent Singapore a bell — as one does.

By 11, we had reached the displays on World War II. Rather than rush to cover the rest of the gallery before our snack break, we decided we would return to explore modern Singapore history after our snack. We powerwalked our way through 80 years of history and made a beeline for the café. It was mercifully open, so we grabbed a table and ordered. Even though we hadn’t yet had lunch, D and P settled on ice cream sandwiches and bottles of soda; I had a tea. Then we powerwalked from the 1200s back to the WWII era to resume our tour of the Singapore history gallery.

We spent a good chunk of time in the WWII gallery. I always enjoy when history is presented through the stories of individual people and this gallery included first-hand accounts from locals who lived through the Japanese occupation, along with interesting military and civilian artifacts. We then learned a bit about the birth of modern Singapore before we exited the history gallery. It was getting close to lunch time at this point, so we decided we would visit one final gallery.

We headed up the stairs and walked through the first door we saw, which took us into Story of the Forest. This is a multimedia display by teamLab, the same collective that created some of the exhibits at the ArtScience Museum. Inside a dome, animated plants bloom as local wildlife like tapirs putter around.

After visiting our forest friends, we hoofed it back to the Fullerton in the heat of the afternoon sun. The walk was grueling despite our beautiful surroundings. We had lunch at Breworkz at One Fullerton, which met our only criteria for a lunch spot: close to the hotel with open tables. We all had veggie burgers and D and I each had a beer. Then, we headed back to the Fullerton to rest, swim, and get P his final free ice cream of our stay. I also dealt with the unpleasant task of packing

For our final dinner in Singapore, we decided to go to Herbivore, a vegetarian Japanese restaurant that had excellent online reviews. Herbivore is in the Fortune Centre, a short walk from the Bugis metro stop. The neighborhood between Bugis and the Fortune Centre was packed with locals on their way home from work, giving it a nice energy.

We arrived at Herbivore at the start of the dinner rush and we were seated at one of the few open tables. We had a hard time selecting items from Herbivore’s extensive menu, but settled on a sushi roll, curry noodles, and a seitan katsu bento box. When the food began to arrive, it was clear we had ordered too much. The bento box alone, which included not only the katsu, but also soup, salad, fresh rolls, a number of side dishes, and a kanten dessert, easily fed two people. Despite our best efforts, we had lots of leftovers and had to reassure our server that we had enjoyed our meal.

We took a different route back to the metro, which took us past Bugis Junction. I really enjoyed walking in this neighborhood, which had lots of interesting restaurants, shops and even a cat café. It was a nice end to our trip (and reminded us that we would need to return to Singapore at some point to explore its many neighborhoods).

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 5

May 11, 2022 – Singapore (Author: J)

Our third full day in Singapore began much like the prior two. We were up early – though not as early as the day before – and headed down to breakfast around 7:30. We were greeted by name and seated quickly. Adjusting to the time zone meant that our appetites were not what they had been. P and I ate just buffet items, while D ordered a main dish and ate very little from the buffet.

The weather was looking a little ominous this morning, so we went back to the room after breakfast to wait out the storm. Around 8:30, the weather map showed that the rain was starting to clear, so we decided to take a gamble and call a Grab to our destination.

After some nail-biting moments in rush hour traffic, our driver dropped us safely at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The hope was that we might see some more monkeys, but in the wild this time. Although it was still drizzling, the reserve was packed with locals walking and jogging. We started with a short hike to a quarry, where we enjoyed some nice views, but saw no monkeys (other than the ones on the sign reminding hikers not to feed the monkeys). Then we did a longer hike on one of the trails – longer being a relative term, because we didn’t get too far between the heat and our difficulty reading the trail maps.

We spent about 90 minutes total hiking various trails and looking for wildlife. Other than a few lizards and what was either a ground squirrel or some type of shrew, we came up empty. But being outdoors in nature is always a nice experience with or without wildlife sightings.

After a rest break to cool off, we headed out of the reserve towards our lunch destination: the hawker center at Beauty World, which was a short 10-minute walk from the reserve. Given my failure to locate an adequate meal the night before, I was a little frightened that we were in for another miss. Fortunately, when we arrived at the 4^th floor of the mall where the hawker stands are located, Guan Yin Vegetarian was open for business. Guan Yin serves vegetarian versions of traditional rice and noodle dishes. The owner told us that he had two choices available that day; I ordered one of each despite not knowing what either dish was.

When our order arrived, we had one dry noodle dish with broad noodles and various types of seitan, veggies and tofu and one noodle soup with thin noodles and assorted seitan, veggies and tofu. Although both had similar looking brown sauce, the differences in seasoning and noodle types gave them different flavors. Everyone was happy with this meal. (P says it was his favorite of the trip). It was filling, tasty, and only around $10 total. The two dishes were more than enough to feed all three of us; we actually wound up with leftovers. My only complaint was that I was not able to add chili paste to my food since I was sharing with two people who are anti-spice.

After lunch, we stopped to buy some kueh lapis (colorful rice flower and coconut treats) at a table set up just outside the hawker center. Then D needed a minute to admire a painting of a cat at an art shop before we left the mall. There was a short wait for our Grab, but we still arrived back at the Fullerton by early afternoon, just in time for our traditional afternoon activities of ice cream and swimming.

I mixed things up a little this afternoon by taking a solo walk to visit Merlion Park while the boys got started on their swim. I started out walking in the wrong direction, which gave me an opportunity to take some pictures of Boat Quay. Then I retraced my steps and made my way to the park for some merlion selfies. When I got back to the room, D and P were still at the pool, so I grabbed my book and joined them for another afternoon of relaxing jackhammering sounds.

After our swim, P asked if we could return to Gardens by the Bay to see the Cloud Forest Dome. I agreed and decided we would make an evening of it. We once again took the metro to the gardens and then walked to Satay by the Bay. It was a longer walk than I expected, and we arrived hot and sweaty.

Satay by the Bay really seems to be hurting due to the reduced number of tourists. Very few stalls were open, which was just as well because there were very few humans around to purchase any food. We ordered food from a Turkish/Indian stall and a coconut and some juices from the drink stall. The food was just above okay in quality, but it was convenient and got the job done.

After dinner, we had our first big wildlife sighting of the day – a monitor lizard wandering near the exit to the hawker center. Then we walked to the Cloud Forest Dome and bought our tickets. My frugal minded side didn’t love this plan because it costs more to buy individual tickets to each dome on separate days; had we seen both domes on the same day, we would have saved about $25 by purchasing combo ticket for each of us. In the end, though, I was glad that we splurged.

Unlike the Flower Dome two days earlier, the Cloud Forest Dome was crowded with people. It was impossible to walk in certain areas of the dome without stepping into people’s selfies. I didn’t even try to get the classic Instagram shot standing in front of the giant waterfall. It was enough to admire it in person.

Because I am afraid of heights (and had a panic attack boarding a skyride on our last vacation), I was a little nervous about the sky walkways. For whatever reason, though, my no worries attitude from the flight continued and I was able to not only do the walkways without panicking, but also enjoy the views.

After enjoying the Cloud Forest Dome, we decided to get a treat before the Garden Rhapsody light show. We stopped at Shake Shack and ordered three shakes to go. Although its an American chain, I have never visited a Shake Shack before and nothing about our experience in Singapore made me want to visit a second location. Our shakes were watery (about the consistency of skim milk) and not the least bit indulgent. Because they were pricey, I dutifully carried mine around for a while, but I only drank about ¼ of it.

From Shake Shack, we headed to the Supertree Grove to get a good spot for the light show. (Note that this was entirely unnecessary; we just had nothing else to do and needed a place to sit). We passed the hour before the show lying on our backs looking up at people on the OCBC Skywalk. As it began to get dark, we noticed that someone on the Skywalk was holding a glowing red stick. P was sure it was a lightsaber and began creating new Star Wars characters to fit the setting. He started with more erudite choices like “Grovey Wan Kenobi,” and “Grove-gu,” but it wasn’t long before the names devolved into “Grove Grove Grove Grove,” which is, of course, a play on Luke Skywalker.

Eventually the OCBC Skywalk Sith disappeared and the light show started. Laying up on my back watching the trees light up on yet another evening of perfect Singapore weather, I felt very lucky indeed. D was thinking similar thoughts, although his came with an added layer of guilt because he was thinking of his father, who always vowed to travel when he retired, but passed away a few weeks short of retirement. In a way, I owe my FIL a thank you for this trip because his death reminded D that our adventuring time is finite. Suddenly, vetoes of certain destinations began converting into “why nots,” and we have been able to have wonderful experiences in a number of countries. Our magical evening at Gardens by the Bay is definitely near the top of that list of experiences.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 4

May 10, 2022: Singapore (Author: J)

a sign in the Fragile Forest exhibit at the zoo

Possibly the World’s Best Zoo

We were up early again on our second full day in Singapore, although we all did a better job of sleeping to a time that technically counted as morning. We made reservations online for breakfast in the hotel restaurant (which we had been told was necessary, but didn’t actually seem to be), got ready for our visit to the zoo, and arrived in the lobby a little before 7. We were greeted by the hosts at the restaurant, who remembered us from the day before and chatted with us about out trip until the restaurant opened at 7.

The breakfast buffet choices were similar to the prior day, with some variations (e.g. different muffin flavors, different dim sum); the selection of menu was the same from day to day. After eating a ridiculous amount of food, we realized that we were ahead of schedule, so we went back to the room to apply bug spray and sunscreen before calling a Grab to the zoo.

Because the Singapore Zoo is still doing timed admission (as of June 9, 2022), we pre-purchased our zoo tickets before leaving for Singapore. In keeping with advice from the TripAdvisor forums, the plan was to enjoy the park before the heat got too oppressive. Fortunately, I was able to secure an arrival time of 8:30 a.m., which is the zoo’s opening time.

We enjoyed the Grab ride to the zoo, which took us through areas of Singapore that we had not yet had a chance to see. As we got close to the zoo, P was hopeful that we might see some macaques; all we saw were signs warning drivers to watch for monkeys.

The Grab dropped us in a designated drop off area in the parking lot. From the lot, there is a well-marked path to the various zoos: the regular zoo (Mandai), River Adventure, and the Night Safari. We were headed to Mandai, often described as one of the best in the world.

part of the huge baboon troop at the zoo

While I haven’t seen every zoo in the world, Mandai is certainly one of the best zoos I have ever visited. We particularly enjoyed the Fragile Forest exhibit, which has a greenhouse area where you can see animals like mouse deer, flying foxes, and saki monkeys with no barrier between you and the animals. It was a really unique zoo experience to be able to literally reach out and touch the animals (although we definitely did not because petting zoo animals is a no no). The zoo also has varied primate species including lemurs, orangutans, and many species of monkeys – all of them in large enclosures where they seemed to have the ability to decide whether they wanted to be indoors or out. P was in monkey heaven.

We enjoyed exploring the zoo for a few hours and then had lunch at Ah Meng, one of the zoo restaurants. I was surprised at how enjoyable this meal was. We had another Indian thali set, a plant based rendang, and – most importantly – some cold drinks. Even though it was an overcast day, the heat was really taking its toll and rehydration was crucial.

After lunch, we hopped on the zoo tram to take in more of the zoo’s exhibits. By 2 p.m., we were exhausted and decided to head back to the hotel. Even with a solid 5 hours at the zoo, we did not see everything there was to see. I really can’t imagine trying to see all 3 zoo parks in the same day, although I suppose you could combine Mandai or the River Adventure with and the Night Safari if you have lots of stamina and don’t mind being super sweaty.

We called another Grab to head back to the Fullerton where we repeated our afternoon ritual of ice cream, rest and swimming. Our friends with the jackhammers were still hard at work ensuring we had an appropriate soundtrack for our swim.

Possibly the World’s Worst Singapore Walking Tour

P and I had chatted at the zoo and decided to head to Little India for dinner. When we announced our plans to D, he made a face that made it clear he was not excited. Thus, I made the ill-fated decision to head to Chinatown for dinner instead. Although I could not figure out if any of the vegetarian stalls in the hawker centers there were open, I figured we would be able to find at least a few options in the non-veg stalls.

We took the metro to Chinatown and started walking in the direction of Maxwell Hawker Center. It was still oppressively hot and, despite the interesting surroundings, it would be a stretch to describe the walk as pleasant. When we arrived at the hawker center, it was clear that my dinner plans were going to be a bust. Many stalls were closed and those that were open had meat, meat and more meat. I was hungry enough that I decided to once again ignore the risk of shrimp paste and order from the rojak stand. I got in line but, while I was waiting, I saw a roach skuttle up the side of the stand. That was one animal ingredient too many for me. We left Maxwell hungry and headed for a vegetarian restaurant that I found on Google Maps. But when we arrived there, we learned that it was operating on a reduced schedule due to the pandemic.

By this point, we were getting cranky, but we had no choice but to continue our journey. Google Maps showed another vegetarian restaurant in the area, so we headed there. The address was for an office building, which likely had a hawker center inside. We couldn’t figure out how to get in, so we decided to give up and call a Grab back to the hotel. After waiting 10 minutes for our ride, we received a message from the driver telling us he had arrived. I messaged back that I didn’t see his car, which prompted him to cancel the ride. I tried calling another Grab, but none were available. And so, grouchy, hungry, and covered in sweat, we continued our walk. We realized at this point that we could choose between a 20-minute walk back to the Fullerton or a 15-minute walk to the nearest metro stop. We decided to walk the extra 5 minutes.

The walk took us past temples, sidewalk cafes, and interesting pedestrian malls. “This is kind of a nice walk,” D remarked as we whined and grumbled our way back to the Fullerton. And it was, but I was in no state to appreciate it.

We arrived back at the hotel with empty bellies and no plan on how to fill them. In the end, the solution was takeout pizza. It did not quite save the evening, but at least we didn’t go to bed hungry.

Singapore and Malaysia Trip Report – Day 3

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 40^th 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 40^th 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.

Singapore and Malaysia 2022: Trip Report Days 1 and 2

Flight SQ21 and Arrival in Singapore (Author: J)

May 6: Friday

This trip report starts the day before our flight because that is when we began our travel. We currently live just north of Boston, but booked a flight from Newark, NJ. Flying from Newark had the benefit of allowing us to fly on Singapore Airlines — often cited as one of the world’s best airlines — on a direct flight: SQ21. SQ21 was, in 2020, the longest flight in the world. My understanding is that the current longest flight in the world is a Cathay Pacific flight that needed to reroute for safety reasons due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So we lost out on the longest flight bragging rights when we postponed our trip, but SQ21 still seemed vastly superior to flying from Boston on a flight with one or more connections.

We packed our bags on Thursday night and D and P went off to work and school respectively on Friday morning. I went to the salon to get my nails done. (I had worked the previous 2 weekends to get all of my grading done and submitted so that I could have Friday off; in addition to my little birthday present to myself, I also cleaned the house and got the pets ready for the pet sitter, so it was not all fun and games for me — just mostly fun and games). I picked D up from work around 2. We then picked up P and hit the road. With traffic, it took us about 5 hours to reach my parents house in NJ. We had dinner with them and visited a bit before heading to bed.

May 7: Saturday

After a terrible night of sleep (which was fine with me since I was hoping to sleep a lot on the plane), we were up early to get ready for our flight. With almost 19 hours of plane time ahead of us, we went for comfort over style in our clothing selections. Goodbye pajamas. Hello sweatpants. We rolled out the door a little more than 3 hours before our flight. I would have preferred less time at the airport, but we hadn’t been able to complete online check-in and the airline recommended that we arrive at least 2.5 hours before our flight to check in.

The drive to the airport was quick and painless, the wait to check in to our flight, less so. There were just a few families in front of us in line, but the process of checking passports and Covid documentation was slow. I was relieved when we were issued our tickets and could proceed towards security. Once we were through security, we had more than 90 minutes to wait and not much to do as there wasn’t much open in the airport. We poked around in the small airport bookstore, looked at the planes at other gates, and then resigned ourselves to sitting.

When the plane began boarding, we did the thing that they tell you not to do but that most people do anyway. We stood and milled around waiting for our boarding group to be called. Soon enough, we were walking past the swanky business class pods to our seats in premium economy. (SQ21 has only premium economy and business class seats). The premium economy seats are in a 2, 4, 2 configuration. P and I had 2 window seats and D had an aisle seat in the same row. We elected not to pay the upcharge to get D one of the single seats near the window at the back of the plane (although this was the seat that D would have had if we had flown in 2020). Fortunately, the seat next to D was empty, making his seat selection more attractive than it otherwise might have been. Once we were settled, P and I tried a trick I had picked up in a YouTube video and took some chewable allergy tablets. As promised, these really did help minimize ear popping and I will definitely be taking children’s allergy meds with me on future flights.

The premium economy seats on SQ21 are pretty comfortable. They are wider and cushier than standard economy seats and they have fun features like a leg rest, book light, and extra recline. For a short person like myself, they still come up short (or maybe it’s long) because the footrest could not adjust so that my feet actually reached it. I did my best to compensate by pulling my backpack out once we were at cruising altitude and positioning it under my feet. I definitely recommend compression socks for anyone taking this flight, but especially those who might have to deal with dangling feet. Despite the mismatch between the seat size and my size, I did not have any circulation issues on this flight thanks to the socks and frequent walks to the restroom. The included pillow, blanket and noise cancelling headphones helped to keep things cozy.

One thing that I had been looking forward to on this flight was the meals because Singapore Airlines is known for its meal service. We preordered vegetarian meals for all of us. (P and I are vegetarian, and D eats fish, but not other meat). Our first meal was an Asian style noodle dish with mushrooms and vegetables. It came with a flatbread of some sort, fruit, and a lentil salad. Other than the flatbread, which was dry and hard to chew, the items in this meal were enjoyable. When the flight attendants came around to give out ice cream to the passengers without special meals, I requested one for P. Although he gladly gave P an ice cream, the flight attendant told me that the ice cream was not for those with special meals because “they come with their own dessert.” I guess the fruit was supposed to be our dessert.

After the first meal service, I did my best to sleep for a bit to try and transition to the correct time zone. (There are toothbrushes and other toiletries in the bathroom to help get you bedtime ready and I had also brought along makeup remover wipes and face mist). Thanks to the glass of wine that I had with my meal, I was able to doze a bit even though it was early afternoon at home. I woke up for the next meal, a light snack. The non-veg option was a chicken sandwich. The veg option was a vegetable sandwich of dry, unseasoned vegetables on wheat bread. This meal was not worth eating, but I ate it anyway. P rejected his.

I passed another chunk of time watching movies, reading, and taking P to the back of the plane to experience the snack cart. They had a nice selection of chocolates, granola bars, chips, cup noodles, pastry, and dried fruit, along with drinks. At some point, the fact that it was the middle of the night in the US caught up to me and I fell asleep for another, longer, nap. After my nap, the rest of the flight passed in much the same way as what had come before. More movies, more reading, and another meal. Our third meal was an odd one. It had a bean salad, fruit, and roll, much like the first meal. But when I opened the dish containing the main meal, I was greeted with mashed potatoes and mashed potatoes and more mashed potatoes, with a side of broccoli. In fairness to the mashed potatoes, they were tasty, but I am not sure who decided that they are a complete meal. I had some of the potatoes, the bean salad and the fruit. No one else in my family ate any of this meal.

After we ate, the flight attendants came around with coffee and tea. It’s served in real teacups with no lids. I mention this because right after the tea service, we hit some really wild turbulence. The plane dipped like we were going down a drop on a roller coaster and I spilled my tea all over myself. As I was cleaning up, I realized that – although I hadn’t enjoyed the turbulence – I also wasn’t overcome with terror by it like I usually am. In fact, I had remained calm and happy throughout the flight. I have no explanation as to why my fear of flying seemingly vanished on this trip, but I am hoping this is the new normal for me.

By this point, we were nearing Singapore, which was fortunate because I was nearing the end of my patience for sitting in a plane seat. The last 30 minutes or so of the flight were a challenge for me. (We were delayed about 45 minutes, so perhaps it was just the psychology of knowing we should be there already). I would, however, recommend this flight without hesitation. It was more comfortable and seemingly passed more quickly than many 5 or 6 hour flights I have taken and the Singapore Airlines service was as good as anticipated — other than some lackluster meals.

May 8: Sunday

When we finally touched down in Singapore, the caption came on the intercom to welcome us and let us know that disembarkation would be delayed because the airport had forgotten to send someone to hook up the gate. Coming from the US where airports from time to time send their staff home without remembering to unload entire flights of passengers, this made us feel right at home. While we were waiting, I turned my phone on and ensured that it had service. It took just a few minutes to get a message from Google Fi welcoming us to Singapore and assuring us that we had data coverage.

When we were finally able to deplane, we were met at the gate by a representative from the Fullerton. This was a pleasant surprise as I did not realize that our airport transfer included gate to front door service. The representative walked us to customs, confirmed that we had submitted our online arrival cards, and advised us to split into two groups. (For whatever reason, Singapore customs won’t let families clear customs together). P and I picked one line and D stood in another. As soon as D got to the front of the line, it became clear that he had not read any of the itinerary information I had shared with him. Thus began a friendly game of telephone where D shouted questions like, “Where are we staying?” and “How long are we here?” and I rolled my eyes and shouted the information back to him. He would then dutifully repeat the information to the customs agent as though she was unable to hear it herself. Fortunately, the customs agent let D into the country anyway. P and I also cleared customs without issue. (We had to show our passports and proof of vaccination and were photographed and fingerprinted).

We were then escorted to our car. As we drove, I thought about the part of Lee Kuan Yew’s autobiography where he talked about greening Singapore so that visitors arriving from the airport would be struck by how cosmopolitan the city was. As far as I could see, the plan had succeeded. I was struck by how green and shaded the drive away from the airport was. Before too long, we were looking at the Super Tree Grove at Gardens by the Bay and other Marina Bay landmarks. I might have gotten a little teary-eyed. Then, it was the moment 3 years in the making – our arrival at the Fullerton.

The Fullerton is a beautiful hotel. Check-in was quick and efficient, and we were soon in our room getting cleaned up and ready to enjoy the evening in Singapore. Our plan, based upon advice from the TripAdvisor forums, was to walk to Lau Pa Sat for dinner and that is what we did. It was nearly 7 when we arrived at the hawker center. At that time, all of the vegetarian stalls were closed. We had no trouble finding suitable options at other stalls, though. We picked up an Indian thali plate and some carrot cake. (Based upon my research, I am fairly certain that the carrot cake contained fish or shrimp paste, despite frequently being listed as a veg friendly option in blog posts on Singapore food. We decided to try it anyway). Once we had our food, I set out to find drinks. At the drink stall, I tried to order a lime juice, a beer, and a sugar cane juice. This is when I learned that each vendor at the drink stall is specialized. I was in the lime juice line, so I could only get the lime juice. Then I had to move to the next line for the beer, and so on. Drinks in hand, I made my way back to the table and we dug in to our first meal of the trip. Everything was delicious, which came as a relief to D who had worried that our mashed potato plane meal was representative of Singaporean dining options.

After dinner, it was dessert time. We headed to Food Folks, a shop attached to the hawker center, for ice cream and some packaged snacks. We enjoyed the ice cream in the shop and brought he snacks back to our room in case we woke up at odd hours with the munchies. (That did, indeed, happen, which is how I came to eat a bag of wasabi chips in my bed at 3 a.m., something that turned out to be a surprisingly acceptable middle-of-the-night snack).

As we walked back to the hotel, I checked the time and realized that we were just in time for the Spectra lights show at Marina Bay Sands. We found a spot with a good view of Marina Bay Sands and settled in to wait. P was not impressed by the show (probably because he was exhausted by this point), but I thought it was the perfect end to our first evening in Singapore. It had been everything I imagined it would be.

Singapore is also some things I didn’t imagine, like home of this ele-corn.

Ecuador 2021 – Wrap Up (Days 12-14)

(Author: J)

May 21, 2021 – Mashpi Lodge

Our last full day at Mashpi was much less eventful than the previous day. We woke up early for the hummingbird breakfast, which is a picnic breakfast held on a portion of the lodge property that is at just the right elevation for hummingbird watching. Our guide was still scared to let us walk anywhere, so we were chauffeured back and forth (although we did a short walk along the road to look for other bird species before starting our picnic). The breakfast was once again quite elaborate, and the lodge prepared enough to feed 5 families. We would highly recommend this experience to anyone staying at Mashpi. Eating breakfast while you watch dozens of hummingbirds flutter by is an enjoyable way to start the day. P loved getting more close-up photos.

After breakfast, we headed back to the lodge to relax. I took advantage of the lodge’s spa services and enjoyed an hour-long massage before lunch. The masseuse did not speak any English, but between my mangled Spanish and some commonsense guesses about what a masseuse was likely to ask, we got by okay.

After lunch, we did a shirt making activity. I got the sense that parents usually send their kids to do this activity on their own, but we chose to do it together as a family. We started by gathering interesting leaves. Then we coated the leaves in t-shirt paint and used them to stamp leaf designs on the shirts.

It rained steadily while we were crafting but cleared up as we were completing our project. We took advantage of the nice weather to go back to the Life Center – at P’s request – to show D the butterflies. Again, we saw a nice variety of birds, along with some small mammals.

The highlight of the day was our night walk. Again, Gabriel was frightened to make us walk (especially because it involved crossing a shallow stream; the difference between waist-deep water and a puddle was apparently not significant as far as their insurance carrier was concerned). We somehow survived though and managed to see a variety of frogs, snakes and interesting insects. For P, who loves frogs almost as much as snakes, this was a great wrap up to our time at Mashpi.

May 22, 2021 – return to Quito

One night thing about Mashpi is that your departure is timed to allow you to enjoy a final leisurely morning. After breakfast, we visited the lab to chat with the scientist who is studying the wildlife on the property. This did not go as planned because P was in a bad mood and refused to speak with anyone, but it was still a nice opportunity to learn about the work that our tourist dollars were supporting.

Our ride back to Quito was scheduled for mid-morning. We were provided with box lunches for the ride, which was – again – private due to the pandemic.

We chose to stay at Swissotel again because none of the airport hotels had a swimming pool. This proved to be a distinction without a difference because the capacity limits at the pool meant that we could not use it. We, instead, spent the afternoon sitting in our room. In the evening, we went out for Mexican food. I woke up in the middle of the night quite ill (I suspect due to my decision to order a blended drink, my first experience with unfiltered water). Fortunately, I was able to pull myself together the next morning and leave for the airport as scheduled.

May 23, 2021 – flight home

We used Medical VIP (which Ecuadorians pronounce “Medical veep,” in case you need to ask for directions) for our covid tests. The process was quick and easy and we had our negative results in hand several hours before our flight. Because our bags were full of dirty clothing, it seemed logical to me to check them through. Mistake number 1. Once through security, the plan had been to use the extra time to eat and shop. But with my stomach still feeling off, I spent most of the time sitting in a chair and whining. I felt bad for P, who had been looking forward to souvenir shopping. Given my state, I put D in charge of buying food for the plane. For some reason, he decided to wait until the flight was boarding to attend to that chore, limiting options to whatever could be grabbed quickly — muffins. Mistake number 2.

Our American Airlines flight to Miami boarded on time. But then it sat there. And sat there some more. As the minutes turned to hours, the crew of the flight made no announcements to inform us of what was going on. Indeed, the flight attendants seemed to be intentionally ignoring the passengers, refusing to even acknowledge anyone who tried to speak to them. By the time we finally took off, several hours late, many of the passengers were panicked because it was clear that the ability to make connections was at risk. Again, the flight attendants ignored all attempts by passengers to ask questions about our landing time or how to make connections. Making matters worse, American had suspended all food and drink service due to the pandemic, so we had only water and tiny stale pretzels during the flight.

We landed in Miami with less than an hour until our connecting flight. Because of the lack of any guidance or help from the flight crew, exiting the plane was a free-for-all with those who had connections (everyone) pushing and shoving. All that pushing and shoving was for naught though because, once off the plane, we needed to collect our bags and go through customs. Once again, American provided no help on basics like where we should go to get our bags. We finally found the correct carousel, but once a few bags had popped out, it shuddered to a stop, apparently broken. In a panic by this point, I looked for someone – anyone – to help us. I found a woman in an American Airlines uniform, explained our predicament, and asked for help. Her response was, “No one here can help you.” I tried again, asking a man who was also in uniform; he was less blunt, but also clearly unwilling or unable to do anything.

With less than 30 minutes until our flight, the carousel finally started again. Bags in hand, we hurried to go through customs and recheck our bags. When we got to the front of the bag check line, the American employee who was taking bags told us that we were too late for our flight and would need to get into another long line to get vouchers for a hotel and fly out tomorrow. “Isn’t there anything you can do to help us?” I asked. The answer was, predictably, “No.” “You should be ashamed to work for an airline that treats customers so poorly,” I snapped in reply. At this point, the employee literally cackled before responding, “I feel no shame.” Since it was clear that any further attempts to get help from anyone at American were going to lead nowhere (except, perhaps to a tasering if I pushed my luck), we got into the long line for rebooking.

As we stood in line, I grumbled under my breath about how terrible American’s service was. This opened the door to conversation with other stranded passengers, some of whom who had been stuck in this room – a room with no food, drinks, or toilets — being shuttled from line to line for hours. Apparently, due to tech issues, multiple American flights had been delayed and American apparently decided the best approach was to strand all of those passengers in Miami — rather than making any effort to help at least some of us make our connections.

While we were waiting in line, I made the executive decision that we did not want to entrust American with our bags again. We tore the checked bag tags off, planning to carry the bags on the next day. As we waited, poor P, who had no raised a peep of complaint, informed me that he needed a bathroom. When I told him he would need to wait, he began to sob quietly. Sensing an emergency, I flagged down an American employee and asked if she could please help my son get to a toilet before he had an accident. At this point our luck turned around; we had apparently found the only helpful American Airlines employee in Miami. She asked where we were headed. When she found out it was Boston, she looked puzzled for a minute and then said, “That flight hasn’t boarded yet.” She then helped us speed through security and to our gate. At the gate, P was able to use the restroom. What we were not able to do was purchase any food or drinks because we were so severely delayed that all of the airport concessions were closed. Fortunately, our flight to Boston offered us the hearty meal option of a bottle of water. But, unlike the hundreds of others that American had stranded in Miami that day, we were going home, at least.

Ecuador 2021 Trip Report Day 11

May 20, 2021 – Mashpi (Author: J)

Today was one of the most memorable days of our trip – not necessarily in a good way, but I think it makes for a good story. Things started off innocuously enough. Although we weren’t meeting our guide until 9 a.m., we were up before 7. After failed attempts to go back to sleep, we accepted that our body clocks were on Amazon safari wakeup mode and went to breakfast.

We chose to dine outside again to enjoy the lovely views of the forest. Napo is fairly all-inclusive, with all non-alcoholic food and drink included in the price, so we had cappuccino with breakfast. We also had a nice selection of pastries, fruits and cheeses brought out to us and were offered a choice of hot items from a menu. It was too much food, but we did our best to eat everything.

After puttering around for a bit, we reported for our hike early. I think someone must have then radioed Gabriel, because he came running from the staff quarters. He assumed that maybe there had been a miscommunication about the time, but we assured him that we were just excited to get started.

Our plan for the morning was to hike to a waterfall for a swim and then take a “shortcut” back via the dragonfly skyride. We assumed that shortcut had the common US meaning: a shorter available route. But it seems that at Mashpi, “shortcut” refers to a route just as long as the original with the added requirement of wading through waist deep water for an extended time.

We set out on our hiking route, a steep but doable route to our first waterfall. There, we stripped down to our swimsuits and spent some time splashing. Then it was on to our next stop. To keep our clothing dry, we hiked between waterfalls in our swimsuits and rubber boots. It wasn’t far to the second swimming hole, which offered both a deeper pool beneath a waterfall and a shallower area. The current under the waterfall made swimming difficult for P, so he chose to splash in the shallows and use soft wet rocks to draw on himself and the riverbank. When we tired of swimming, we dried off and changed into our hiking clothing. Naively, I took particular care to make sure everyone had dry feet before putting on our socks. Wet feet are the path to blisters after all.

Since it had taken us no more than 30 minutes of hiking time to get to the second pool, I assumed it would be a hop, skip, and a jump back to the dragonfly because . . . shortcut. Imagine my surprise then, when after 10 minutes or so of hiking, Gabriel mentioned we had to cut through the river. He then showed us how to stand on one leg and empty water from our boots. I was starting to get suspicious about this short cut.

We entered the river and began trudging along. I did my best to keep to shallow areas to so my boots would stay dry. P, who is a bit smaller than me, had no such option. His boots immediately filled with water. And then he took the first of many falls on the slippery rocks. The water was deep enough that he went under, but the poor kid was determined to keep a stiff upper lip.

This was not my shining parenting moment. I was so concerned about keeping myself dry that I didn’t really give though to how scary falling into a river fully clothed in heavy rubber boots might be. Soon enough, though, we came to a spot in the river so deep that I had no choice but to step into a deep place. My boots filled with water and I filled with rage. I then foolishly decided that the solution was to pick up the pace. I didn’t pay attention to my footing, stepped on a slippery rock and went under. As I hit the rocks, I felt a shooting pain in my left arm and a surge of terror that I was submerged in water. But I didn’t lose it until I was back on my feet and saw my soaking wet camera. “This isn’t waterproof,” I said softly as I began to sob. My 8-year-old son, who had, himself, repeatedly fallen, was now comforting me. D, a stoic Midwesterner – he did not even cry at his own father’s funeral for fear of making a scene — was mortified.

But when you are stuck in a river, you have no choice but to keep on sloshing. That is what we did. After a hiking time at least as long as our hike down to the waterfalls, we arrived at the dragonfly. We were wet and, in my case (and probably P’s), in pain. We then climbed up the tower and started the loading process. Gabriel helped P into his seat on the skyride and, as he did so, it lurched like a bucket hanging on a string (which, I suppose, it was). As you may recall from my earlier posts, my family does not like heights. Seeing my son in mortal peril – or what passes for it to someone with a phobia of being up high – I took sensible steps to protect him. I left him alone in his lurching basket while I proceeded to have a panic attack. It featured shaking, hyperventilating, and repeatedly sobbing, “I can’t do it.”

While it is possible that I would have eventually calmed down enough to get on the dragonfly, the decision was made that we would instead hike back to the lodge. It was another 20 minutes uphill in soaking wet clothing. D actually carried P for parts of it, something that was no easy feat given the steepness of the path and the large size of the son. By the time we arrived back at the lodge, I was no longer panicked. I had reached the point of embarrassment that I had let my family down and subjected an already tired and hurt kid to a steep climb.

Poor Gabriel was probably thinking that he was going to be fired. He handed us off to the manager, mumbling to himself, “Most people love hiking through the river.” At this point, I foolishly declined medical attention in favor of lunch. The story of our misadventures had already gotten around, although the common understanding was apparently that my family was just not very good at hiking. Did I offer a sarcastic reply when the waitstaff asked if the hike was “too long?” Perhaps. Did that further embarrass D? Definitely.

Having had the benefit of lots of time to reflect, I have been able to forgive myself a little bit for the panic attack. Despite my fear of heights, I am usually able to keep myself calm enough to endure (but never enjoy) something like a skyride. I had no history of panic attacks before his incident, in fact. But on this day, after months of enduring the pandemic, and stuck inside a body that was both soaking wet and injured, my brain just really needed to let go of some stress. I have been pretty decent at coping since then (other than occasional nightmares in which I abandon my son to plunge to his death from a platform in the jungle). So maybe the panic attack was a good thing.

I have also started to view Gabriel’s suggestion that we take this particular hike more charitably. I initially couldn’t imagine that anyone in their right mind would actually enjoy wading through the river. But perhaps for a taller person who could accomplish the hike without repeated falls, it might be enjoyable. It was not the right hike for a family with an 8-year-old and a 5-foot tall mom, though.

After lunch, D was still pretty mad at me for showing emotions in public, so he decided to stay in the room. P and I went down for our afternoon visit to the Life Center. Everyone was pretty surprised to see us. In fact, they needed to radio for Gabriel again since he assumed we were boycotting future activities with him.

A cautious agouti (perhaps sensing the tayra)

Anyway, we really enjoyed the Life Center. There’s a deck there for birding, as well as a butterfly house where they raise the insects for release into the forest. We saw a tayra, an agouti, a good number of birds, and even some more howlers. P loved it and poor Gabriel was a good sport throughout. I would have to imagine it was awkward for him, but he never let on.

After the life center, we headed back to our room to relax for a bit. Then we had dinner. I cannot remember the details of what we ordered, but I do know that everything was good. But the portions were so large that I could not finish my main dish, something that caused the head waiter to come over to make sure everything was okay. I explained that I was saving room for dessert, which mollified him only slightly.

Then it was off to bed before another early wake-up. (In case anyone was wondering, it took my arm about a week to recover. There was no lasting damage, but I probably should have seen the first aid person on sight at Mashpi. Our feet recovered eventually too, helped along by the fact that I always bring blister bandages on vacation).

Ecuador 2021 Trip Report: Day 10

May 19, 2021: Mashpi Lodge in the Cloud Forest (Author: J)

After just 1 night at beautiful Casa Gangotena, it was time to head to our final destination of the trip, Mashpi Lodge. After so many early wakeups in the Amazon, our 8 a.m. pickup for Mashpi seemed downright late. Indeed, I was up before the alarm, which gave me the chance to take part in one of my favorite vacation activities: coffee on the balcony. It was a sunny morning in Quito and I enjoyed listening to the sounds of the city waking up — including the barking of lots and lots of dogs.

the Virgin of Quito as seen from our balcony

After coffee, we got ready for the day and packed. Our packing cubes really came in handy here. Using the cubes meant we had not really had not unpack to find what we needed, so repacking was a snap. We were soon headed downstairs for breakfast. I was a little nervous about timing because Casa Gangotena suspended their breakfast buffet during Covid. But I need not have worried. The food we ordered came out quickly and we had just enough time to eat before we had to run to meet our driver.

After breakfast, we quickly checked out and met our driver outside the hotel. Transfers to Mashpi are usually shared, but not during the pandemic. It was just us and our driver for the approximately 4-hour drive to the lodge. We started out passing familiar scenery along the outskirts of Quito, but soon we were travelling through small towns in the mountains. About halfway to Mashpi, we made a restroom stop at a gas station. (Our driver even had TP for us). The gas station had the Ecuador equivalent of a 7/11 or Speedway with all sorts of interesting snacks. I purchased a piece of cake and a Powerade for P, who was predictably hungry after eating little of his breakfast back in Quito.

Eventually, the paved portion of our route ended and we bumped along the final approach to Mashpi. Mashpi is a boutique eco-lodge in the cloud forest outside Quito. It protects one of the last tracts of intact forest in the region — no small thing considering that the cloud forest has suffered over 90% deforestation. It seemed to me that Mashpi wants to position itself as a more easily accessible alternative to the Amazon, but I do not think that branding does the place justice. The cloud forest provides a very different experience than the Amazon; the wildlife, landscape and recreation opportunities are all quite different from what the Amazon region offers. If you come expecting the Amazon, I think you will be disappointed. But if you come with an open mind, you are bound to be impressed by what the lodge offers. (And, given the price, you have every right to expect to be wowed).

At the entrance to the lodge, we were greeted by staff and then decontaminated in a now familiar routine. Our bags went to our room, while we reported for our next meal. Since the weather was still beautiful, we chose to sit outside overlooking the forest.

Like Casa Gangotena, Mashpi has suspended buffet meals during the pandemic. For us, that was a negative. With a picky child, being able to see and select foods is generally a better option than ordering off a menu. Still, the Mashpi staff was as accommodating as they could be, bringing P the fruit and cheese that we had requested for him. D and I ordered off the menu. This particular meal was a miss for me; I had a bean dish that was lacking in the flavor department, followed by fruit compote. I ordered the compote instead of the chocolate cake I really wanted so that P and I could share both options. When the compote came out and I saw it was the same fruit I had not enjoyed at our tea the day before, I regretted my sacrifice. (P did give me a spoonful of cake, but he ate the lion’s share, while I poked at the compote).

After lunch, we relaxed in our room for a bit before meeting our guide, Gabriel, for our welcome tour. Gabriel was our private guide for the length of our stay — another pandemic change. My understanding is that in pre-Covid times, tours were not private.

Gabriel was a good guide choice for our family. He seemed to genuinely like children and he has a special interest in amphibians, one of P’s favorite animals. He promised to help us find some frogs later in our stay. But the first order of business was trying to find some monkeys. The only species of monkeys regularly seen at Mashpi are howlers and sightings are not guaranteed. We got lucky, though, and Gabriel quickly tracked down a family (complete with baby) after hearing and identifying some monkey howls. With all the excitement of tracking down monkeys, we wound up hiking a bit farther than planned. I was proud of how well P handled the difficult trail back up to the lodge.

After our hike, we planned out our schedule for the next few days. I explained to Gabriel that we were afraid of heights, but willing to try the Dragonfly sky ride based upon our successful treetop birding experience in the Amazon. My faux bravado would come back to haunt me the next day. That evening, though, we ended the day with a short night hike, a late dinner (but sadly no drinks because of Covid restrictions), and a deep happy sleep. It had been an amazing first day at Mashpi.

A howler. The species that lives in the cloud forest is not the same as the one that lives in the Amazon region.

Ecuador 2021: Trip Report Day 9

May 18, 2021: Amazon and Quito (Author: J)

The view from our room at Casa Gangotena.

Our final wakeup at Napo Wildlife Center came much too early. We had to be up and dressed for a 5 a.m. departure. The travel time back to Coca is longer during the high-water season because you are travelling against the river currents, so late risers might want to take that into account when booking.

It was hard to drag myself out of bed and nearly impossible to get P up. (It did not help that he was despondent to be leaving Napo and its many species of monkeys). Fortunately, departure from Napo is as seamless as every other aspect of your stay. We left our bags outside our cabin where they were picked up and wrapped so that they would remain dry in the event of rain. Then, all the departing guests and their luggage are loaded into canoes. All of this is accomplished in the dark and it was a bit eerie to push off across the lake into the darkness.

Because of time constraints, we did not stop to look for wildlife. David did, however, point out some bioluminescent worms floating on the lake as we rowed past. Between the current and the extra weight from our luggage, it was clear that we were not making great time, so one of the other guests offered to help row. Our boat team was happy for the help and, while we didn’t pick up much speed, it was clear that the extra hands did make for lighter work.

I spent the first part of our boat journey keeping P, who had dozed off, in an upright position. He is a notoriously restless sleeper and I worried that he might otherwise flip himself off the boat and into the darkness of the river. By the time we arrived at the welcome center and transferred to the motorized canoe, it was no longer dark, but it also wasn’t sunny. The morning brought another storm with it. Thankfully, the motorized canoe was covered.

Once all the departing guests were on the motorized canoe, the Napo staff started passing out breakfast. Given the meals we had enjoyed so far, I should not have been surprised to see that this meal was another elaborate affair. First came the carafes of coffee and juice, then the boxed meals, and finally, some additional warm items. We had another miscommunication about this meal because we opened the box to find deli meats, among other items. When I returned the boxes and asked about vegetarian options, I was ensured that the meal was “only cheese and bread.” I had to open the box and point to the ham, which apparently was not supposed to be included. It probably would have been easier to just throw out the ham, but wasting meat seems like something that would put us on the vegetarian naughty list. I’m sure we are, instead, now on the Napo fussy guest list.

The trip back to Coca definitely seemed longer than the trip from Coca to Napo. I am sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is less fun to leave than to arrive. The trip from the dock to the airport was just as quick as I remembered, though. The Napo staff led the whole group to the airline check-in desk where we received our tickets after showing our passports. For whatever reason, we were required to check our carry-on bags (something that seemed odd to me since other passengers were allowed to carry on bags of a similar size). We were then given plastic bags containing water and a snack and sent to the boarding area. Because our flight was delayed, we had a bit of a wait and not much to do. The plane arrived about an hour late, and we boarded and made the short flight back to Quito.

At Quito airport, we were met by our driver from Casa Gangotena. (We elected to book all our transfers through our hotels because of Covid. In normal times, a taxi would be an easy and more affordable option). Then we made the now familiar trip from the airport into Quito. P grumbled about being back in a monkey-free city, but that all changed when we arrived at the hotel.

Casa Gangotena is a boutique hotel in a historic home in Quito’s old town. It sits right on the Plaza San Francisco, steps away from several historic sights. The hotel is a bit of a splurge compared to other hotels in Quito, but the room rate included high tea, drinks, activities, breakfast, and a spectacular level of service.

Like Napo, Casa Gangotena had an ozone machine that we needed to stand in before entering the hotel. Then, we were directed to reception. The woman at the front desk initially offered to hold our bags for us so that we could go out and explore the city. But when I asked if there was somewhere that we could clean up and change before we went out, she instead decided to check on whether our room was ready. It was, so a member of the bell staff led us upstairs.

Our room exceeded all expectations. It was a generous size with beautiful finishes and had been set up to welcome three guests. I have found that hotels often do not count children as guests and will fail to provide things like towels and water for them. But Casa Gangotena had ensured that there was three of everything, from robes and slippers to face masks, in the room. The best part was that our room had a private terrace. I was delighted to walk out onto the terrace and see the Virgin of Quito looking down on me from her hilltop home.

The highlight of the view from our terrace.

After freshening up, we decided to head out in search of lunch and an ATM. With directions from the doorman, we found an ATM in a nearby pharmacy and then stopped at a diner for what we hoped would be a quick lunch. After some initial miscommunications due to my limited Spanish, we ordered a pizza — hold the meat — and some drinks. The wait for those items seemed interminable. The cashier actually went back to the kitchen to check on our food a few times because she was that it was taking so long. When it finally came, we scarfed it down in record time. (Considering our remaining plans for the day, we ate much more than we should have at this meal).

After lunch, we walked back to Plaza San Francisco to visit the church. Because it was drizzling, we had large umbrellas and it was a challenge not to poke anyone’s eye out with those at we navigated the narrow streets. The church museum was open despite Covid and I coerced P into taking a look. He had been looking forward to returning to our room to watch soccer, but he humored me by keeping his grumbling to a minimum as we toured the museum. For some reason, the museum requires that you see its collection with a guide — something that seems unnecessary considering how well-marked the exhibits are.

Chasing pigeons in the rain in Plaza San Francisco.

Our guide started the tour by asking — voice full of hope — if we spoke Spanish. When we said no, she started the tour in perfectly serviceable English. But she seemed so uncomfortable speaking in English that I told her to switch to Spanish and we would do our best to follow along. She was nice enough to keep her narration simple and, between my knowledge of French and my months of Duolingo Spanish, I understood enough to translate a bit for P and D. Iglesia San Francisco is a stunningly beautiful church with an interesting collection of colonial religious art. (The relief carving depicting murdered Franciscan missionaries in grotesque and bloody detail was among the more unique and memorable things we saw). Had it been allowed I would have enjoyed wandering a bit. But the short tour fit P’s attention span, so it was probably for the best. We finished up, thanked our guide, and then made the short walk across the plaza and back to our hotel.

Tea for Two. (Not pictured: second tower with tea for one more).

Our plans for the remainder of the afternoon were to rest, go to tea, go to the evening’s cultural activity, and then eat dinner at the hotel restaurant. This all sounded great on paper when we planned the trip, but I did not take our extremely early wakeup time into account when planning. We were a subdued and tired group when we reported for high tea, but we summoned the energy to sample each of the snack items on offer. We were droopier still when we went to the evening chocolate tasting, but we were happy we went. We had a wonderful experience talking one-on-one with a member of the hotel staff about his life in Quito, his country, and, of course, chocolate. (My apologies to everyone at CG because I did not make notes while there and so I do not remember the names of any of the wonderful staff members who made our stay so special).

By dinner time, we were barely functional and barely interested in eating. We wound up sharing two appetizers and one main course, all of which were excellent. I felt bad that we were taking up a table given the capacity restrictions, but we simply had not considered how tired (or full of chocolate) we would be by 7:30. After dinner, we took a peak at the city lights from our terrace and then went straight to bed.