Day 248: Prepping for Indonesia — Gardens by the Bay — Raffles Hotel
It’s our last full day in Singapore. We leave tomorrow for a month in Indonesia (!!).
I got up for an easy session on the elliptical machine this morning. I had a minor skin procedure on Thursday and the dermatologist told me to avoid sweating for a week or so. Not easy in Singapore! I’ve been walking on the treadmill and cruising on the elliptical. I’m much happier when I move my body even a little and have some personal time early in the morning.
The last two mornings I’ve been catching up on the NFL weekend. It’s strange waking up on Monday morning to a full set of NFL scores, highlights and Fantasy Football results. The time zone difference also kept me from riding the Redskins emotional roller coaster: they went up 17 in Philly, then shit their bed in the second half — while I slept comfortably in mine.
This morning in the gym I was texting with my Cleveland buddy and fantasy football co-GM Allyson O’Keefe. We were rooting for our QB Drew Brees to put up a big number on Monday Night Football. He did, carrying us to victory in week 1.
After breakfast we did an abbreviated homeschool session then Margaret went to spin class at Absolute You. She said it was one of the best of the international SoulCycle knockoffs. Apparently the instructor was an American SoulCycle-regular from LA, convinced to move to Singapore to be an instructor. I sensed some jealousy in Margaret! If she doesn’t come home from work on some rainy, cold New York day in March 2020 I’ll know where to look.
The kids played with some of the new toys and art supplies we picked up yesterday then I took them outside. We hit the jungle gym, grabbed sandwiches at the cafe and went to the pool.
They had a blast, jumping between the jacuzzi and the pool for a couple hours, with a 15 min break to crush their Treetops Cafe PBJs and fries. Willa has new googles — hers broke about a month ago and she’s been swimming without. She said “it’s A-M-A-Z-I-N-G to be able to see clearly underwater.”
Margaret returned having shipped our Vietnam stuff back to the US and picked up our laundry.
We had 6pm plans to meet Wolfy and Wei Hwa at Raffles Hotel and decided to first check out Gardens by the Bay.
The Gardens are pretty amazing. You could spend the whole day exploring and lounging. We had about an hour and let the kids run through the Children’s Garden, a series of climbing structures and slides surrounded by beautiful greenery. We were going to check out the two domes — The Cloud Forest and The Flower Dome. Both looked really cool. But time was limited, kids were whiney and the tickets were pricey, so we decided to skip it.
We took a short taxi to Raffles. The kids continued to annoy and I overheard Margaret in the backseat warning, “No mocktails for bad kids.” Telling and hilarious.
Most colonial-era hotels are rough around the edges and surviving on the history and brand cache. Not Raffles, which just finished a two-year renovation and is a gorgeous spot.
The plan was to meet at the famous Long Bar, but there was a line of tourists with the same idea. This was the write up posted outside the bar.
So we went back downstairs to the Courtyard Bar and spread out on a couch and a couple big lounge chairs. Margaret and I had G&Ts, Willa had lemonade and James had a Ginger Ale. We shared chicken satay.
Wolfe and Wei Hwa arrived and it was fun to have one more catch up with those two.
The kids actually broke out Rat-a-Tat Cat for the first time in forever. They were distracted by the game and their drinks for a bit but then got antsy.
Margaret and I have noticed that even when sitting at a restaurant or bar like this, if the kids aren’t behaving then the person who is physically sitting closest takes the brunt of the frustration. Even if one is next to the kids and the other is 5 feet away, it makes a difference — because the one who is closer not only takes the brunt of the whining but also is, by default, responsible for keeping them acting half-civilized. I was sharing a couch with them tonight and they were driving me nuts. Eventually we gave them their jump ropes and told them to go over to a nearby turf area to play. But they wanted to show Wolfie and Wei Hwa their jumping, which led to Willa falling and crying. Check please!
Back at Treetops (we love their tagline: “We call it Treetops”), we got the kids in bed then finished organizing and packing up.
MISC:
James hasn’t been falling to sleep as fast as usual. He’s antsy and a little anxious at bedtime. He’ll keep getting out of bed and coming into our room. So we’ve had to lie next to him for a few minutes to get him to fall asleep. Just a phase, we hope.
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Wolfie intrigued Margaret with his stories of KTVs — Singapore Karaoke spots… the “TV” is referring to the TV where you read the lyrics. Margaret’s vision is to do a family Karaoke session in Japan.
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Speaking of Japan, we’ve learned that the Japanese eat KFC on Christmas. I’ll take KFC over KTV any day.
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Our kids are officially breakfast buffet connoisseurs. They know what to expect, they confidently scout out what they want and help themselves (or demand help if items are too high to reach). And after dozens of buffets this year their standards are very high.
Overheard today:
Willa: I’m sort of happy to be leaving tomorrow.
Margaret: Really? Why?
Willa: I’m looking forward to a tropical breakfast buffet.
I believe that’s her way of saying the fruit and yogurt selection at Treetops —- one bowl of plain yogurt, bananas, cantaloupe, watermelon and dragon fruit — was not getting it done.
The real world is going to be a bitch for these kids. Breakfast will go from never ending “tropical” buffets to one simple choice: “Cheerios or Oatmeal?”
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Finally, an O’s hat update: not looking good. Margaret and I continued to be beat up by this. Willa thinks we’re crazy. James has honestly been indifferent — maybe it’s because he’s the only one who doesn’t actually *see* the hat regularly. It’s such a staple on this trip that I keep thinking I’m going to see it lying around somewhere. I emailed Grab customer support once again to push them on whether they really asked the driver to look for the hat. They say they did and can’t really answer more questions about this because it wasn’t on my account. So I had Phil push them (so up his alley) and he’s added a $200 Singapore dollar reward if it’s returned. I also googled every variation of the driver’s name (we have it on the receipt, though desn’t mean it’s accurate). One possible lead, a Malaysian guy who I messaged on Facebook, but haven’t heard back. Checked with the front desk at Treetops — nothing. Called The Four Seasons again and they said they would call me if anything turns up. Meantime, we ordered another identical hat to Phil in Boston and will see if we can get it to us… shipping to Indonesia will probably cost something like $200 SGD!
