Back in Singapore

For the three day Good Friday weekend, we decided to return to Singapore, or, as my daughter calls it, "Singaport" (which is quite fitting, given its history and economics).

Unfortunately, we won't have much free time.  Saturday, my wife has her annual physical (my company requests that expats have this done in Singapore) and I will be picking up my contacts.  That will consume our entire morning.  Sunday, our flight returns around noon, so we won't have any time to go anywhere.  That leave us Friday (the holiday) and Saturday afternoon to have fun.

The wife and kids picked me up from work at my normal 4 PM departure time and we headed to the airport for our 7:30 PM flight.  The normally one hour drive to the airport took 2 hours.  Because I have my Indonesian tax ID, I no longer have to pay the USD $250 per person departure tax.  I do have to stand in line to show them my ID card and have my boarding pass stamped, however.  At 6:20, we were finally checked in and waiting in line at immigration.  At 6:50, we finally cleared immigration.  The line was brutal.

Our trip from Jakarta to Singapore was uneventful. The flight is a thankfully short 70 minutes.  The only oddity was seeing someone order milk with a splash of Sprite and Coke.  Not sure I am interested in discovering what that might taste like.

As soon as we landed, my daughter had a bathroom emergency so her and I pressed against the flow of traffic to the back of the plane.  We were the last ones to exit.  When we deplaned, they routed us through security at the gate as if we were departing again.  They scanned our bags and had us walk through metal detectors.  First time that has happened to me on arrival. 

When we made it to the stairs down to immigration, we noticed lines as long as the one we endured in Jakarta, and that the elevator was unavailable.  Because we were pushing a stroller, we needed an elevator.  Signs directed us on a 5 minute walk to the other side of the terminal. We arrived at the D gates; an elevator was available at the C gates.  Immigration at the C gates, where apparently no planes had arrived for quite some time, was empty.  Four officers, no passengers.  We beat everyone else on our plane to baggage claim!  Next time I travel to Singapore, I'm taking the walk to the immigration at the C gates.

We hopped a cab to our home for the weekend - the Singapore Ritz Carlton.  Nestled against the Singapore River, right where it enters the sea, the hotel offers spectacular views.  The room, as always, is top notch, as is the service.  We finally all fell asleep around midnight Singapore time, 11 PM Jakarta.

In the morning, we breakfasted at the hotel buffet then packed up for our day at Wild Wild Wet water park in Downtown East near Pasir Ris.  Our daughter was insisting we go there ever since she knew we would be in Singapore.  She loves their inner tube ride she calls "The Loop".  We were there about three hours; long enough for me to learn these three things:

1)  If anyone is considering a pebble-tech finish for their pool, and they plan to use their pool as anything other than decoration, spend one day at this park.  You'll change your mind.  It eats the feet.  (I had intended to buy AquaSocks before our trip, but never got around to it).

2)  If seeing your girlfriend in her bikini gets you excited, don't wrestle with her, and for God's sake, don't wear a speedo!  No one wants to see that.

3)  Baby safe suntan lotion is not waterproof and will sting the eyes.

Right now, I'm sitting at the desk in our room while my son and daughter nap and my wife takes a bath with the entire city viewable through the bathroom window.  Tonight, we will be going to the new Mexican restaurant in Clarke Quay:  "Muchos".  Tomorrow night we'll be visiting our old favorite "Tapas".