When planning our recent trip to Australia, we knew that we would have to plan a stop over to break up our trip. When it was just me and my husband J we would battle through the two long flights and try and find the shortest change over possible making our journey 24 hours. With Baby Girl being just 16 months at the time that we travelled the thought of that brought tears to my eyes.
I started looking around at flights for the dates that we wanted and found some with Singapore Airlines that looked good. It was only then that I started thinking about Singapore as a potential place to visit and after a quick bit of research I was sold so we booked our flights with 3 nights in Singapore on the way to Australia and 2 nights on the way back.
The purpose of our Singapore stay was to relax, lounge by a pool, recover from the first flight and adjust to the time difference. We stayed at Shangri-La Hotel on our inbound journey and the Ritz-Carlton on our outbound journey (reviews coming soon).
In my ideal world I had so many things that I wanted to do whilst in Singapore - Universal Studios, Singapore Zoo, a day at Sentosa Island to name a few, but we just didn't have it in us to spend a full day out. I think Baby Girl would have had a melt down too. We decided that we would spend time enjoying our luxurious hotels and when we could, go exploring and experience the best of what Singapore has to offer. It got me thinking, with Singapore being a really common city to have a stop over this must be a common dilemma so I wanted to share a few of the things we did with our time restrictions.
1. Clarke Quay
We found this place by accident. We jumped in a cab from Shangri-La and asked the taxi driver to take us somewhere that has some nice restaurants and I'm so glad he took us here. Clarke Quay is a magical place with 5 blocks of restaurants, cafes, bars and entertainment. There is such vibrance about this place. The buildings have 19th century characteristics and are painted with a variety of gorgeous pastel colours. We had a lovely family evening eating Tapas at a Spanish waterfront restaurant. I imagine this is a place that J and I would have loved pre baby. This would be an awesome place to go bar hopping and a fab night out.
2. Orchard Road
The Oxford Street of London, The Chapel Street of Melbourne. The Champs Elysess of Paris. Orchard Road is a boulevard hosting some of Singapore's best shopping and entertainment. Visiting here before Christmas time was amazing. The boulevard was so beautifully decorated with decorations and lights. I love that there was so much green, even though it was a really busy street the trees made it feel like a bit of a retreat from the bustling city. We didn't do any shopping here but just really enjoyed going for an evening stroll and soaking up the atmosphere.
3. Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
Call in the Sydney Opera House of Singapore. This spectacular building is a performing art centre and plays hosts to many theatre shows, concerts, events. You don't need to be going to a show to enjoy this gorgeous area. It's right on the river and theres an abundance of restaurants, bars and shops. The atmosphere was electric the evening that we visited here. There's an outdoor open theatre right on the water and there was a free concert featuring a rocking band. We found a great little place that did naughty american food, enjoyed our meal, then some live music and took in the most breathtaking view of the Singapore skyline.
4. Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands is most well known for its world famous rooftop pool. It's both the highest and largest infinity pool in the world. I love me a pool and also a city rooftop so this was the first hotel I looked into staying at when I was planning the trip. Sadly, we couldn't justify the price for this trip but is on my bucket list so I'll get there one day! For this visit, we spent an evening at the base of this hotel. There's so much to do and see. Visiting this place took me right back to Vegas. The concept is inside and out. It's right along Marina Bay and there's always lots going on outside including a large selection of restraints and bars. Everything is grander than grand. There's plenty of shopping options including all the high end faves. Louis Vuitton even has an architecturally brilliant stand alone store right on the water. There's a science museum, a casino and of course a super luxurious hotel. There's a canal that runs through the building where you can take your very own gondola ride. The food options are plentiful. We spent our last evening here and I was craving something traditional so we made our way to the food court, Raspura Masters where we were presented with a line up of Asian street food stalls. I had a hot pot and it was the best meal I had whilst in Singapore. Close by is Gardens by the Bay which is a huge nature park. We didn't have a chance to explore that far but I hear it's amazing. Only hotel patrons can get to the rooftop pool but the public can head up to the rooftop to an observation deck. I can only imagine the views of Singapore would be out of this world from there. Every evening from 8pm there is a light and water show called Wonder Full which we were able to see. It was mesmerising and Baby Girl was fascinated by the millions of bubbles that were released as part of the show.
My last hot tip is enjoy the food. The food in Singapore was amazing. Whether you are after cuisines of the world or authentic Asian food, where ever we went the food was truly delicious. We enjoyed food from top restaurants to street food stalls and it was all GOOD! Singaporeans know how to cook so make the most of it.
Kat x
I started looking around at flights for the dates that we wanted and found some with Singapore Airlines that looked good. It was only then that I started thinking about Singapore as a potential place to visit and after a quick bit of research I was sold so we booked our flights with 3 nights in Singapore on the way to Australia and 2 nights on the way back.
The purpose of our Singapore stay was to relax, lounge by a pool, recover from the first flight and adjust to the time difference. We stayed at Shangri-La Hotel on our inbound journey and the Ritz-Carlton on our outbound journey (reviews coming soon).
In my ideal world I had so many things that I wanted to do whilst in Singapore - Universal Studios, Singapore Zoo, a day at Sentosa Island to name a few, but we just didn't have it in us to spend a full day out. I think Baby Girl would have had a melt down too. We decided that we would spend time enjoying our luxurious hotels and when we could, go exploring and experience the best of what Singapore has to offer. It got me thinking, with Singapore being a really common city to have a stop over this must be a common dilemma so I wanted to share a few of the things we did with our time restrictions.
1. Clarke Quay
We found this place by accident. We jumped in a cab from Shangri-La and asked the taxi driver to take us somewhere that has some nice restaurants and I'm so glad he took us here. Clarke Quay is a magical place with 5 blocks of restaurants, cafes, bars and entertainment. There is such vibrance about this place. The buildings have 19th century characteristics and are painted with a variety of gorgeous pastel colours. We had a lovely family evening eating Tapas at a Spanish waterfront restaurant. I imagine this is a place that J and I would have loved pre baby. This would be an awesome place to go bar hopping and a fab night out.
2. Orchard Road
The Oxford Street of London, The Chapel Street of Melbourne. The Champs Elysess of Paris. Orchard Road is a boulevard hosting some of Singapore's best shopping and entertainment. Visiting here before Christmas time was amazing. The boulevard was so beautifully decorated with decorations and lights. I love that there was so much green, even though it was a really busy street the trees made it feel like a bit of a retreat from the bustling city. We didn't do any shopping here but just really enjoyed going for an evening stroll and soaking up the atmosphere.
3. Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
Call in the Sydney Opera House of Singapore. This spectacular building is a performing art centre and plays hosts to many theatre shows, concerts, events. You don't need to be going to a show to enjoy this gorgeous area. It's right on the river and theres an abundance of restaurants, bars and shops. The atmosphere was electric the evening that we visited here. There's an outdoor open theatre right on the water and there was a free concert featuring a rocking band. We found a great little place that did naughty american food, enjoyed our meal, then some live music and took in the most breathtaking view of the Singapore skyline.
4. Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands is most well known for its world famous rooftop pool. It's both the highest and largest infinity pool in the world. I love me a pool and also a city rooftop so this was the first hotel I looked into staying at when I was planning the trip. Sadly, we couldn't justify the price for this trip but is on my bucket list so I'll get there one day! For this visit, we spent an evening at the base of this hotel. There's so much to do and see. Visiting this place took me right back to Vegas. The concept is inside and out. It's right along Marina Bay and there's always lots going on outside including a large selection of restraints and bars. Everything is grander than grand. There's plenty of shopping options including all the high end faves. Louis Vuitton even has an architecturally brilliant stand alone store right on the water. There's a science museum, a casino and of course a super luxurious hotel. There's a canal that runs through the building where you can take your very own gondola ride. The food options are plentiful. We spent our last evening here and I was craving something traditional so we made our way to the food court, Raspura Masters where we were presented with a line up of Asian street food stalls. I had a hot pot and it was the best meal I had whilst in Singapore. Close by is Gardens by the Bay which is a huge nature park. We didn't have a chance to explore that far but I hear it's amazing. Only hotel patrons can get to the rooftop pool but the public can head up to the rooftop to an observation deck. I can only imagine the views of Singapore would be out of this world from there. Every evening from 8pm there is a light and water show called Wonder Full which we were able to see. It was mesmerising and Baby Girl was fascinated by the millions of bubbles that were released as part of the show.
My last hot tip is enjoy the food. The food in Singapore was amazing. Whether you are after cuisines of the world or authentic Asian food, where ever we went the food was truly delicious. We enjoyed food from top restaurants to street food stalls and it was all GOOD! Singaporeans know how to cook so make the most of it.
Kat x
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We might be having a 2 day stopover in Singapore on our next trip, so this post will come in very handy.
ReplyDeleteWonderful, you will love it! X
DeleteWow! Amazing photos. Singapore is definitely on my travel bucket list!
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend it x
DeleteWow it looks totally incredible. I would love to go one day. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
ReplyDeleteIt was so so so fab. Better than I expected it would be. Thanks for stopping by x
DeleteThis took me right back to our stopover 11 years ago. One of the best trips of my life. My fave memory of Singapore is swimming in the hotel pool during monsoon rain! Crazy and magical.
ReplyDeleteI hope I'll make it back there with my family someday. X
I know why you mean! It was too good a city to just stop over. I want to go back and have a proper holiday there x
Delete