Satay Street and iLight Marina Bay

This weekend Frankie had a good sleep during the day on Saturday, so we decided to head out that night and keep the kids up a bit later.  I'm not so scared of doing this - they'll be a bit tired the next day, but so? Andy on the other hand is terrified and spends every ten minutes we are out past 7.30pm asking if we should take them home yet.  The plan was to eat early and check out some of iLight Marina Bay, as it is only on for another week, and I'd seen a heap of gorgeous photos floating around the web (not like my crappy iphone ones below!).

Andy had told me about Satay Street (on Boon Tat St, near Lau Pa Sat) - during the day it is a street in the financial district, by night the road is closed, the satay stalls come out and you're in an open-area food court.  There is a line of satay stalls, each with rows of tables in front.  You pick your stall by picking your table; once seated they come to take your order, along with other vendors selling the standard wok cooked dishes and Tiger beer.

Satay being cooked!

The best part is that it as it is the financial district, there was a big footpath behind us with no one walking around; the kids could run free (and did).  I've found it works best to dress Frankie in a cute outfit such as her fairy wing top when eating out - she gets a lot of 'my how adorable' comments when she is running around being a little brat/maniac/2 year old up late, whereas if she was looking less cute, she'd be a whoooole lot more annoying.  Oscar on the other hand, who looks about 10, gets a lot of  'Why on earth are you running around like a crazy 6 year old?? You should know better!' looks- the bane of being very tall for your age - luckily he ignores everyone anyway (often to the extent he will run into them - he is off in his own world.  I had always hoped my kids would be restaurant trained, but alas, it was not to be).

Oscar, during the 5 seconds he stayed seated at the table.

Frankie and Andy sharing a Rose flavoured milk drink.

The food comes quick, the kids loved the skewers (sans satay sauce), and it was great to be out in the city somewhere low-key and priced for taking the kids.  40 skewers (they're tiny, trust me!), and two little rice cake things set us back $26.

20 Chicken Skewers - $12 - tasty and cheap!

Boon Tat Street is close to Marina Bay, so after eating we wandered over to see the lights.  We saw very little, but what we saw was very cool.  After an hour or so I got soooo sick of Andy whining about how it was probably time to take the kids home that I caved and we headed home.  But it was lovely to be out on a Saturday night... I can see the attraction of having a live-in maid - we could go out every Saturday!  Or maybe I should leave Andy at home with the kids given he can be so whiny and just head out by myself ; )

Family portrait - I took about 5 shots, but Andy was giving me bunny ears in most of them....!

Laser like lights turned Oscar into a light covered robot.

Community drumming - Frankie in the foreground - the kids loved being able to join in.

A deckchair that lights up when sat on.

Paper covered water bottles that light up when spun.

iLight is only on for another 6 days!  So if you are in Singapore and haven't been yet, do go check it out - lights turn on at 7.30pm, and it covers quite a distance, so leave the kids at home if you can ; )

x Amelia

65,000 Red Luft Balloons

On the weekend we went to check out an 11m high balloon sculpture of a Robot at Marina Square - and a lot of little mini-balloon sculptures.  I thought the actual design of the robot could have been a little more creative, but the sheer number of balloons was very cool.  Interesting fact - apparently a thin layer of oil is sprayed on to the balloons to stop them bursting or losing air.  So there you go.  Kids were duly impressed, and if it hadn't been at a shopping centre in Singapore on a weekend (i.e. hell), would have been a pleasant outing!  But pictures speak louder than words....

A day on the bay...

Yes, it has been a while.. but we HAVE been busy (not just me being slack. Promise).  I am 16 weeks today and still sick which seems entirely unfair, but I was the same with the last pregnancy.... so fingers crossed any day now I will be glowing and vomit-free.

Home still doesn't feel quite like home - and I feel a bit lost on the weekends - after spending so long doing house/garden stuff on the weekend, in our little apartment with not much furniture I find I get a bit bored.  With the kids around is not the ideal time to work on my current quilt, so we've been trying to find activities to do with the kids that are a bit different from the weekday routine.  Our condo has a Facebook group, which is used for selling or giving away furniture/kids items, updating on local activities, and sharing news (such as the recent theft of mens running shoes from the corridor shoe boxes, and the removal of a - possibly poisonous - snake from one of the lifts recently).  One of the ladies recommended the Watertours boat cruise.  Singapore is one of the worlds busiest ports and not known to be particularly picturesque (being filled with ships - a LOT of ships), but it wasn't too expensive and seemed like something nice and cool we could do without getting wet!

The boat that the tour was on was great - although a reproduction and built in 2005, it is very ornate and when we got to the harbour the kids were very excited to find out that we were going on the fancy boat.  The boat has an audio tour that is played over the speakers - the kids kept talking though, so we missed a lot of it - seemed to be a basic history of Singapore and the development of the area.  Leaving the dock you get a view of the city and the landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer and Marina Sands, and..... a lot of ships!  Coming around Sentosa was not particularly interesting, but the audio track did detail the development of the island which wasn't something I knew much about before.  At that stage morning tea was served (tea and biccies), so the kids were suitably distracted stuffing their face full of cookie crumbs for a while.  You can walk (or in the kids case, run) around the boat throughout the journey, and it was lovely up the front at the bow, just looking out to the sea and feeling the cool breeze.

Ships.  Lots of ships.  At least the sky made it look pretty!

Oscar running around the boat.

Frankie clinging on for dear life.

There is only one stop on the tour, at Kusu Island (also known as Tortoise Island - named after a legend where a magical tortoise turned itself into the island to save two shipwrecked sailors.)   On the island is a Tortoise Sanctury where you can get right up close to the little creatures, several shrines and a small temple.  It would have been nice to have just a little bit longer there, but it is just enough time to dash around and see everything quickly.  The tortoises were very cute - although maybe a bit too accessible as I did have to put on my mum voice and tell some 20-somethings to stop feeding them biscuits!!

 

Devil Tortoises!

Awwwww!

Overall, we had a really lovely day.  It wasn't a mind blowing experience, but no one complained, whined, or said they were bored during the whole trip - which is in my books a good day out : )

x Amelia