on the Go with Bo!

Trapeze after champagne brunch?

Have you ever tried the flying trapeze?  How about doing some acrobatics right after a great Sunday brunch?

Well we did!

I've been postponing this brunch at Barnacles at the newly renovated Shangi-La Rasa Resort on Sentosa for quite some time.  But somehow it all came together this past Sunday.  A friend was coming in from Switzerland and of course Sunday's are reserved for champagne brunch … so I thought why not try out Barnacles.

First of all,  I've been to the Rasa Resort before, prior to the renovations and I'll be the first to admit it looked very tired.  I knew it had been shut for a year to do a major overhaul and what a success that has been.  The hotel has a total resort feel now.  Fresh, modern and stylish.  Perfect for the family.  As my friend put it as we stepped out of the taxi into the open and breezy lobby area … it feels like we've come to the Bahamas!

Barnacles is set on a beautiful point of Sentosa, right on the western tip, right on the water.  We had amazing seafood platters … fresh lobsters, crab, mussels, prawns … chasing down the oysters with bottle after bottle of rose.  After brunch we had coffee and lounged under the big tree, the afternoon slowly passing by!

And then came the biggest surprise.  The trapeze!  As we're walking towards Tanjong Beach Bar, we passed the flying trapeze.  Slightly tipsy and looking at the circus act setup we thought, why not!  So one after another we all tried being an acrobat for 15 sec or so.  Let me tell you, when you're looking at the ledge from the ground, where you grab the bars and let yourself swing, it doesn't seem so high.  A different story when you're up there.  It's damn high!

Perhaps it was better that we had had a few drinks … to take the edge off!

It was the ending to what was a magnificent brunch!

And then we trotted off to Tanjong Beach Bar … champagne buckets awaiting ...

Getting wet in the fountains of Clarke Quay

You know how when you have kids with you, you can never have a decent conversation amongst the adults, for the kiddies are always demanding attention.

Well, found the perfect place to have a cocktail or two, along with the kids, where they will leave you alone for hours!

The fountains in the middle of Clarke Quay can distract the children for a very long time, while you have drinks at The Pump Room, Highlander, The Clinic or IndoChine.  You're sitting right on the square, and the kids are running and screaming through the fountains, under your watchful eye, each time getting daringly closer and closer to the shooting spouts of water.

Yes, they will be completely wet by the end, and happy, and you will end up buying souvenir T-Shirts in the adjacent stall for you didn't bring a change of clothes along ... but who cares.

You finished your drink and the kids had a memorable evening :-)

New cable car ride to Sentosa

I'm not even sure why they replaced the old cable cars with new ones, since the old ones seemed fine ... anyhow, the new ones have a plexiglass design so that you can have a great 360 view of the surrounding scenery, and the cables have been elevated by a considerable amount so that the vantage point is better.

Kids (and adults) will love the ride which starts from Mount Faber, especially the part where you go through the Harbour Front high-rise and then you're suddenly out on the other side of the building and on top of a cruise ship and the emerald green water below ... heading to Sentosa.

Marvel at the colourful birds at Jurong Bird Park

Children love animals and thankfully birds are included in that category.  I took my two baby cousins to the Jurong Bird Park, and more than the luscious setting, they loved the many colourful birds on display.

It's layed out really well with a lot of the birds being out in the open ... so of course they asked me how come they don't fly away??  And what was I to say?  That they clip their feathers?

Make sure you come in the morning, for there are a lot of interesting shows to see, such as feeding the flying creatures.  Of course we missed all that, for by the time we got to the park, which is a 'fair' bit out of the city, we were already too late.

And if you get exhausted from walking around because the kids are screaming from tiredness, you can put them onto the monorail ride which takes you around the bird park.  Air-conditioned, elevated tracks with a great view of all the different habitats and simple.  And that last condition means a lot when you have kids in tow :-)

Found my pussy cat at the Singapore Zoo

My two baby cousins are visiting from Slovenia, if 3.5 and 7.5 year olds' still count as baby's, so of course I wanted to take them to the zoo.

It's amazing how kids get excited when they see animals.  So do I.  And there is no fear, not even with snakes.  I was expecting them to cover their eyes or to be grossed out with the mighty python or king cobra, but no, they were staring at it through the thick glass and just ogling the serpentine creatures.

Although we didn't manage to visit all the animals, for we came there late, we still managed to find me a new pussy cat ... the white tiger, who was just stunning.

If you've got friends in town, highly recommend to buy the 3-in-1 package combining tickets to the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and the Jurong Bird Park.  They're valid for 30 days.

Bird watching at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Well, I can tell you immediately that bird-watching is not my thing.  I do not understand folks that come with cameras with massive telephoto lenses and sit for hours in little shacks by the marshland to get a photo of a bird.  Admittedly, they showed me some photos, and they were stunning.  But I just don't have the patience.

 

Thankfully though, there were a lot of other animals that totally fascinated me.  Monitor lizards for one.  We saw several, a few that just lazily crossed our path, and many more that were on the edge of the waterways or swimming further down the stream.  They're so elegant when they swim, with their legs neatly tucked besides them for maximum hydrodynamics … while their tail propels them forward.

And then there were these crazy fish … that just kept jumping out of the water.  I'm not sure if they were eating bugs buzzing right above the surface or if they were showing off to us.  In any case, we were amazed at how high they could jump.

Crustaceans.  I call them crabs!  Did you know they hang out in mangroves, positioned just ever so slightly above the water line on tree trunks?  As we were walking down a boardwalk over a mangrove park, I looked down towards the water … and there they were.  Hundreds of them.  Never seen them hang out on roots.  Tanning?!  Fascinating!

 

Sungei Bulah Wetland Reserve is as far as we can go from our home and still be in Singapore.  I checked on Google Maps and it's exactly 34 km by road from our home, at the very north-western side of the island, right opposite to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, which you can see across the strait.  The Wetland Reserves are a calm oasis within the city state.  A wonderful place for a walk in a natural surrounding (as natural as it will get in Singapore), surrounded by peace and quiet.  From the top of the lookout tower, looking towards the horizon, we nearly saw no signs of civilization.  Trees, waterways, marshland … and OK, some telecommunications towers in the distance.  But pretty good for urban Singapore  :-)

To get there we drove up Bukit Timah Expressway, past the Kranji Industrial Park and all the abandoned army camps, when suddenly we were in a traffic jam on a wide road heading past the park.  We thought it was a bit odd, so we asked the cab driver how come so much traffic here on a Saturday morning.  He said we were crossing the railroad and that the road was very narrow going over the tracks.  Although where we were, the road seemed to be very wide.

This is what you have to understand.  The one railroad track that runs through Singapore from Tanjong Pagar station in the south and then across the island and into Malaysia, actually belongs to Malaysia.  The land is owned by Malaysia as is the actual rail-track.  So if you're walking on the rail tracks in Singapore, you're technically in Malaysia.  Leftover problems from before 1965, when Singapore was still part of Malaysia.  Anyhow, because the road that crosses the train tracks is actually owned by Malaysia, they have for obvious reasons never bothered to expand it to accommodate the large road that leads to and fro and thus every day it creates a bottle-neck!  Politics!!

The good news is that a few months ago, Malaysia and Singapore came to an agreement, and the rail-road track and the surrounding land will shortly be reclaimed by Singapore and the Tanjong Pagar railway station moved to Woodlands.  Hopefully that will solve the bottleneck problem on this road passing by the Kranji Industrial Park.

When you go back home, make sure you take Lim Chu Kang Road, which will take you past the fascinating Muslim, Chinese and Christian cemeteries … all side-by-side.  We may feud during our lifetime, but we all end up lying next to each other.  Loved the symbolism.

Universal Theme Park rocks!

I've forgotten how much fun it is to go to a theme park.  And when you're there with kids, it's double the fun!

I was waiting for the right group of friends to come along, namely ones with kids, before I went to test out the newly opened Universal Studios Theme Park on Sentosa.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Would it be daggy?  Boring?  Childish?  Packed with annoying kids?

You know what, we had a brilliant day!  We were a large group with many kids, who definitely help you access the inner child.  Kids make you loose your seriousness and enable you to become all silly with them.

So there I was posing with plush giant-sized dancing lions and penguins, and laughing on the great 4-D Shrek ride (wait till you see what 4D means!) and drinking from dinosaur cups and chasing each other around the massive columns from the Revenge of the Mummy.

But get ready, the lines are looong.  And if you're coming from Thursday - Sunday I highly recommend you pay extra for the Universal Express card.  It may cost you more, but listening to your kids squealing in endless lines will cost you even more.  The Express card gets you to the front of the line for every ride.

Talking about $$$, there's something else to get ready about.  The amount of money you will spend.  From the ticket to the photos, souvenirs, meals, drinks and toys that your kids will have to have, your credit card is bound to be maxed out :-)

And … it was veeeeery hot the day we were there … which makes you spend even more money!

Visiting the Istana Presidential Palace

Singapore is feeling patriotic this weekend!

5 times a year, during the main national holidays, Singapore opens up its presidential grounds to the public. Since tomorrow August 9 is National Day, we thought why not pay a visit to the Istana ... the Presidential Palace. Get ready to queue up ... we came at 9am and the line was already very long. Thank god for the Starbucks nearby ... we grabbed a coffee and snaked our way to the entrance which took up a better part of the hour.

Once inside, the grounds are surprisingly large. Beautifully manicured gardens, 9 hole golf course, several bungalows surrounded by magnificent trees and 1000's of people wandering the grounds.  The main building, the grand Istana, is very much a relic from the British colonial days.  It was built in 1869 and housed the British Governors.  It's not opulent, compared to European government buildings, yet its colonial design seems practical and the sprawling grounds stunning.

I was surprised for I thought when seeing the Istana, one went into the grounds, snooped around and then left.  But actually there were a lot of activities arranged, especially for children.  Many visitors came for the day it seemed.  It was an outing complete with drawing classes, playgrounds, bands, drink stands and more.

And only in Singapore would you find the presidential palace right next to a shopping mall!  It seemed very appropriate, given that the national hobbies are shopping and eating :-)

Oh, don't forget your ID.

A farmers' market in a country with no farms

'Are the vegetables from Singapore?' I asked jokingly ... knowing well that Singapore has no farms.  And she gave me a brilliant response.  I'm from Singapore but the cucumbers are from Australia, tomatoes from Holland and pineapple from Thailand.

On the first Saturday of each month, there's a small but cute farmers' market at Loewen Gardens, right next to Dempsey Hill.  Something you really don't expect in Singapore.  You can find delicious breads, jams from Nepal, olives from Greece, flowers, free range eggs, wines and spirits from Provence and of course fruits and vegetables.

The market is organized by The Pantry ... a lovely little restaurant in Lowen Gardens ... where you can also have lunch amidst the farmers' market.  The Pantry also has a cooking school, pastry shop and bakery.

A great way to start your Saturday.  And make sure you say hello to The Pantry resident ... a beautiful pussy cat that's always sleeping on an electrical box by the tables ... but is actually keeping an eye on you!

Visit Orchid Garden followed by lunch at Halia Restaurant

When guests come to town, a tried-and-tested formula is to take them to the Orchid Garden in the Botanic Gardens … and then for lunch at Halia Restaurant.  I don't really know much about Orchids … but when I walk through the Orchid Garden and see all the beautiful colours (deep purples, pinks, tiger stripes, etc) I am impressed.  And your guests will be too!  Best of all, the tour only takes 20 odd minutes … after which you head of to Halia Restaurant just around the corner, book yourself a table on their lovely canopied terrace and eat a delightful lunch with a glass of white wine.  The other day we had bread fingers with blue-cheese pate, sprinkled with walnuts and honey.  It always makes for a memorable sight-seeing trip … and easy to put together :-)