After almost two years of not boarding a plane, I finally set off to Singapore with my family; my parents, sister, grandma, husband and of course my 15 months old, Chloe. Five days, four nights, Marina Bay Sands. We’ve been to Singapore many times and we’ve flown all around the world countless times. However, it was her first time travelling, I was quite nervous on how she would handle it, and she did not know what was coming.
I was at lost on what to pack for her. After I pack almost all of her clothes, all her toiletries in smaller bottles, towels, one sack of diapers and some of her favorite toys, they are a suitcase full. I made a good decision to not pack light for a toddler. As she explored, her clothes got messed up and dirty. She was all over the place! We used up all her tops, and she even had to wear some new ones. I should not hava packed the dresses, I did not put it on her at all.
She could not sit still too during the flight. I nursed her when we took off, she napped for 10 minutes. I had to give her to my parents as she was incredibly calmer with them. During landing, she started crying, and I stupidly packed away my nursing cover. I ended up nursing her without one. As the stewardess on our left kept on nagging about how the infant seat belt was not tight enough and how my arm was not supposed to be in the seatbelt, and then told me to tighten it again. Oh gosh, Singapore Airlines, you need to fix her attitude! The stewardess on the right knew what frustration her co-worker had caused and was extra nice to us when we finally landed.
Bad start to the trip aside, the rest went pretty smoothly. We shopped, we went to the aquarium, we shopped again, we tried to go to zoo but it rained, and then we shopped instead. I think the highlight of this trip was the SEA Aquarium in Sentosa Island, where Chloe went bananas on fish, fish, fish! Shopping was a good thing for me, too. Luckily everybody in my family are my partners in crime, including the husband a.k.a. the wallet. Chloe had the most loot! She got new clothes, toys and even a stroller.
Chloe had so much fun in the SEA Aquarium
My mom accidentally left Chloe’s stroller at home, so we ended up buying a new one on the second day. She is 11kg, and even after taking turns carrying her, it proved too tiring while travelling. Our new stroller is better for travelling, since it’s only 3.4 kgs and Chloe loves it. Previously, she rarely wanted to get in a stroller and if she did, it was not for very long. She loved being pushed around looking at new things.
The most stressful for me was her meals during this trip. At home, she is always a good eater but on vacation she was very picky. We had to resort to pizza, bread, mozzarella cheese sticks, yogurt, puddings, shumai, and fresh juice. Sometimes, she was willing to try new things. When I shared her eating toubles with other mothers, I discovered that Chloe did not do so bad at all. Other than the feeding situation, she was a good sport most of the time.
Singapore is a very great city for family travelers. The city is clean. You can find clean diaper changing station/rooms easily. You can borrow wheelchairs and strollers at many venues. Our decision to stay at the Marina Bay Sands was also spot on. While Chloe slept and took an afternoon nap, everybody else could go to the casino. There was a huge mall and a foodcourt, so it was very convenient. Chloe was sleeping during the New Years firework show. But while most others had to spend hours waiting in the gruelling humidity to see it, James and I simply took turns to see it from the large window by the 29th floor elevator. We will be coming back again soon!
Oh, by the way, we had a better return flight.
