Day 4 

Our fourth day in Singapore was super busy.  We were heading to Sentosa Island for Universal Studios Singapore.  But we started out by heading to the Mount Faber Cable Car ride to Sentosa Island. It's a neat view of the city and the man made island.  Cost $28 SGD and included on the Go City Card. 

We then did the Sky Helix  at the sentose cable car station cost $18 SGD and included on the Go City Card.  We also did the 4d ride cost $30 SGD included and the Luge  but not included with the go city card so we paid $88 total for 4 of us.  The luge is basically think a downhill non snow sled ride.  The kids had a great time.

Then we cable car to Resort World Universal Studios.  The cost? $80 SGD but included in the Go City.  We got there around 1 pm but had lunch first outside at their malaysian food court.  Again pricey since it's universal (cheap compared to North America) but expensive for the area.

What was Universal like?  It was pretty crowded but overall fun.  A super small park easily doable in 1 day.  We rode like 3 rides and enjoyed the singapore foods with a twist.  Just like Mcdonald's. 

We left around 5 pm riding the monorail back to Singapore island.  We had to use all forms of transit - cable car, monorail, bus, and uber that day!  Anyway we had dinner again this time at the Suntec Food Court and Monster Curry.  Running total for the day $138 + $357 SGD = $495 SGD.  

Would we have done so much without the card?  Probably not.  Mostly because we wouldn't have gone to Universal.  $80 for a pretty small park.  But included?  For sure.

Day 2

We spent the day at the Singapore zoo and River Wonders.  Cost was $118 4 park hopper because there are 4 parks total Zoo, River Wonders, Birds of Paradise, and Night Safari (which we did another day).  Running total $216 SGD (since I bought it for $414 SGD) in activity entrance fees so far.  We took the train to the zoo which cost us around $16 public transit, but the uber home for $22, which was 60 minutes versus 30 minutes.  We spent $70 USD on lunch in the park.  Typical.  

That evening since we got back by around 4 pm we decided swim a bit and then go out for chili crab on the Boat Quay.  It was delicious but our most expensive meal all trip $162 USD.  

Day 3

We started off the day with a big bus tour at 9:30 am across the street from our hotel at Suntec Mall.  It is the double decker buses that run around most major cities with tons of cool facts and fun way to see a lot fast.  Also less walking for those with kids.  Cost $53 SGD. 

Then we took it to stop number 2 because we missed the floral fantasy at the Gardens at the Bay also included and saw more flowers (my DH and DK2 love gardening).  That was an extra $20 SGD also included in the Go City Card.  Then we hopped on a train and went to chinatown hawker stall and ate lunch probably $15 total for 4 of us. 

We had an early day and went back to the hotel and swam again.  But DH and I went across the street to the famous Raffles hotel and got 2 free singapore sling drinks $40 SGD on the Go city card.  They gave us 2 each for 2 adult and 2 kid passes.  The kids chilled in our bedroom.   Now I would never have paid for the singapore sling but it was super cool and fun and A LOT of people were waiting in line to drink it and eat peanuts.

We had dinner at a place on Clark Quay for Japanese Yakitori for $79.  And we did it early since we had called it an early afternoon.  Then since we were done with dinner by 7 pm, we hopped on a river boat tour included on the Go City card from the Clark Quay.  Cost $28. Running Total $357 so far.

Day 1

So we arrived in Singapore at 5 am and were fortunate the hotel let us use their shower facility at the pool to shower, change, and refresh.  Our location at the JW Marriott South Beach was excellent and it was a nice hotel.  You don't have to tip in Asia but honestly in places where they are used to guests they are expecting tip, just not as much as you would in North America.  Our hotel we stayed for free using Marriott points for 4 nights get 5th night for free.  You know our airline ticket story from another post.

After we showered we took a uber to chinatown, had an awesome breakfast (noodles and dumpling $10 for the 4 of us), then headed over to Gardens by the Bay.  This is a financial blog so we'll do some breakdowns along the way.  I paid $414 for an adult 5 day unlimited Go City Singapore card, the kids were $100 less or so.  The cloud and flower dome were included and the cost?  $53.   Those were the supertree grove and kids pretending to hold the tree.

We stayed until about 1 pm ate a light snack at McDonald's.  One of my favorite places to eat no matter what country we're in.  We love seeing the how McDonald's adapts to local culture.  We had a nasi lemak (fried chicken) burger and a chicken nugget happy meal for the kids.  Then we were off to our 2 pm Duck Tour reservation.  Duck tours are WWII boats adapated for tours that go in the city and water.  Cost $45 and you need a reservation.  The merlion photo was taken from the duck boat.

After that we headed back to the hotel to check in and rest until an early dinner across the street at the Suntec City mall.  We had dinner for the cost of $48 which included tax and tip for a family of 4.  Yes that was one of the more expensive meals we had out.  Anywhere we paid with a CC was more than the cash stalls we happened upon.

We had a lovely trip to Singapore and Thailand at the end of August. I'll post some photos and notes in the next few days.  But I have to write a bit about my experience reading blogs about travel and traveling with kids.

I read a lot of posts about "saving" money while traveilng.  Mostly about transportation cost, using miles, hotels, etc.  Of course there are a bunch of bloggers writing about traveling with kids first class because of miles and getting free airline hotel comps or cruise comps.  They aren't exactly average joes looking for a deal.  Their job is blogging and ads and evaluating where they are going.  So it's not really easy to discern how expensive traveling with kids is or how easy or hard it really.  And of course there are a ton of bloggers who are single or couples doing it super cheap not constrained by school schedules and use to paying for a family of four.

So I just wanted to put it out there reality wise for all those blogs I read about food, transportation, etc.

1.  When you travel as a family of 4 or 5, sometimes it's cheaper to use a cab.  No public transit is not cheaper.  I can prove it with my uber rides versus paying $2 a person for a one way subway and having to walk.  We did use the subway/bus/walk because of the experience and fun.  But the truth is that with 4 people it's often more economical to use a grab.  I made a conscious decision not to buy a $5 transit pass card because I suspected that using ubers would be more efficient and I was right.

Also after a long day it's often times easier to go straight back and not waste an extra 30-60 minutes navigating a subway/walking/waiting with kids and maximize rest times.

2. Hotels often in Europe and Asia are built for 2. It's way more expensive and harder to find rooms accomodating families.  You can easily get 2 rooms but then you are sharing with one adult one kid.  The rooms are smaller and meant for couples.

3. Food stalls are awesome as a single or couple. It's somewhat painful to go eat at food courts with a family where you have to get your kids food, navigate a seat, get your food, and navigate trying to accomodate everything.

4. Kids need down time. Even older kids aren't as resilient as adults.  A lot of flexibility and change need to happen.

5. Carrying around a lot more and spending more. I already had a backpack on the entire time filled with sunscreen, 1 water bottle, napkins, tissues, hand sanitizer.  And I still spent more than those couples/singles with their one bottle. I bought from vending machines and 7-11 drinks because it's awful to carry around 4 drinks.  I learned that years ago.  1 bottle of water to refill in case of emergency and you buy everything else you need along the way.  Water/drinks are cheap compared to the effort of carrying it.

6. Food - i missed the michelin star food hawker stalls in singapore because trying to find it and wait in line impossible. I had fantastic food and we had a fabulous time, but as a family? You have to let go and go with the flow rather than making perfection happen.

7. Sometimes you just do the experience in front of you instead of what you planned.  There were all these itineraries of "travel" warriors for seeing everything.  Couldn't be done with my two kids ages 11 and 13.  They just couldn't hack those days.  Our itinerary was jammed packed for a family, but it still didn't come close to what bloggers write.

8.  I paid extra to sit up front in economy going and we lucked out to have no one sitting next to DH and DK1 grabbed and empty row.  Coming back I forked over $450 per person for economy plus on our mileage tickets and it was worth every penny.  

9.  Find a hotel with an amazing pool.  We had three crazy pools and it was incredible.  We needed downtime to just relax.

10.  When you land you pay a premium to eat either in the hotel as a family or nearby but often you are too exhausted to care where or what you eat.  Our most expensive meals were when we couldn't move.

I just had to post a few thoughts on traveling with kids.  I guess I found myself a bit cynical after reading a lot of blogs about itineraries and ideas.  But none really hit on traveling with kids.  

FWIW, it's awesome and fun to travel with our kids.  We always have a blast and our experiences if you've read my blog the photos have been good.  But for anyone who thinks it's what other bloggers write? Or try to experience or do it on the cheap?

It's not.  Even reading about people going to disney?  There are way to do it cheaper but cheap? Or to do it the way some single or couples do it?  with a family?  Impossible.  So cut yourself a break and enjoy the ride.