Early Adventures of Baby L - Singapore!

While we booked our big trip to Asia in October, we have really been planning to go since we knew we were pregnant. The first leg of our adventure to Singapore is extra special for G because he was born there. Both his dad and his grandfather were on expat assignment in Singapore in the early 1980s . Less than a year after G was born, his parents repatriated to Texas, and other than a mission trip to Mexico, G never left the US again (until he met me, of course!)

G back in Singapore after over 3 years!

Our trip had a bit of a rocky start. We planned to leave at 6pm. We were all packed and ready at 5:30pm so we decided to go ahead and leave early.  Good thing we did! It took us 30 minutes to get all our luggage down to ground level and loaded up into our Uber XL. Baby L was for a grand total of about 5 minutes, and then she started screaming bloody murder in her car seat. Eventually, she wore herself out and fell asleep as we pulled into the airport terminal - it was past her bedtime anyway. We gave our Uber driver an extra tip since he was such a good sport (and drove very conservatively, despite her crying!)

Baby L was super grumpy the whole car ride to the airport!

 At the airport, Emirates family check in seemed to take forever (also why we leave early when traveling with the little one!) G had to argue with the check-in agent about our luggage allowance since we packed per the guidelines on the website. She finally asked her colleague and was able to sort it out. By this time, Baby L had woken up and was flirting shamelessly with our check-in agent!

Baby L and I at the Dubai Airport

Security and boarding was mostly uneventful (we had a diaper blow-out and spit up on G’s shirt along the way) and once we were on the plane, we met a lovely Irish couple with a 7 month old boy. He and Baby L hit it off right away and made very similar cooing noises and liked to touch each others’ hands - it was too cute! After takeoff, they brought out Baby L’s bassinet, and she snuggled off to sleep. We had a rough flight, and since the seatbelt light kept coming on, she didn’t stay in her bassinet for long - policy is that when the seatbelt light is on, she must be in my lap. Of the 6.5 hours of the flight, she probably spent a good 4 of it on my lap. We got to Singapore and we were all quite tired, and at the same time excited to start the first leg of our adventure!

Baby L and I on our first airplane ride together!

We stayed at the iconic Marina Bay Sands resort and hotel. While we waited to check in, we had brunch at Din Tai Fung - one of our favorites! We then explored the Gardens By the Bay until it started raining, then headed back to the hotel to eat a late lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen. Between the rain, our full bellies, and red-eye flight, we were ready for an afternoon nap - and we all slept longer than we meant to! G set his alarm for 6pm and we slept right through it until 8pm - even Baby L!  

Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the background - the famous infinity pools is at the top!

Baby L giggling with her towel elephant!

We decided to have a late dinner at Yamamoto near the MBS Casino and then take a late night stroll around the Bay.  On a Friday evening, the restaurants and bars around the Bay were all hopping! As we made our way to the historic Merlion, we passed by some girls giving away free ice cream popsicles - in the dark, we couldn’t see the flavors, so I picked a yellow bar and G picked a brown one. His ended up being red-bean (not chocolate. Bummer.) and mine ended up being DURIAN!! I was so excited. It was so delicious. Less than 24 hours in Asia and I just happened to stumble upon some beloved stinky fruit. 

SOOO excited for my DURIAN ice cream pop! It was SOO GOOD!!!

Family Photo with the historic Singapore Merlion

The next morning, Baby L slept in until 8! She’s normally a 5:30am baby, so her jet lag was definitely a nice treat. While G went downstairs to the cafe for some breakfast pastries and coffee, Baby L decided to make my morning challenging. She wet herself and her changing mat while I was changing her, and after I moved her to a clean towel on the bed so I could clean her changing mat, she pooped all over the towel. She then proceeded to giggle and try to roll into her poop. Luckily, I scooped her up just in time, and got both of us cleaned up and dressed before G got back with breakfast. Whew!

As I mentioned earlier, G was born in Singapore, so we took a short cab tour of places from his history - Mount Alvernia Hospital where he was born, Mimosa Park where his parents lived, and Lucky Plaza where his parents used to shop. The cab driver seemed bemused at our itinerary, and once he learned it was because G was born in Singapore, he was actually pretty excited about our trip down memory lane.  He even took this photo for us in front of the Mimosa Park apartment buildings!

The buildings where G lived after he was born

Baby L slept through the drive (thankfully) and our driver dropped us off at Lau Pa Sat for lunch. We met with my manager one of my previous assignments - she had just moved to Singapore late last year. I had hoped to meet with one of my supervisors from that assignment as well, but unfortunately she and her family weren’t back from their holiday travel just yet! Anyway, it was fun catching up with my manager and she introduced us to lots of yummy (and cheap!) hawker stand foods. Baby L was also a sweetie sitting on my manager’s lap, and didn’t fuss at all!  

Famous hawker stands at Lau Pa Sat pavilion

MBS is famous for its huge infinity pool, so we decided to spend the afternoon poolside, despite the cloudy weather. The views were incredible! The water was too cold for Baby L, so we let her take a nap while we took a quick dip.

Baby L is not impressed by the Infinity Pool....

...but we were absolutely impressed! What a view!

Our final touristy activity in Singapore was dinner and a little shopping in Chinatown. We bought Baby L a classic Chinese-style dress, but her little fatty rolls around her neck prevent her from wearing it! Poor thing! We enjoyed delicious pepper crab for dinner, though it is probably not wise to choose a meal that covers your hands in pepper sauce when you have a sleeping infant with you. When she woke up crying, I had to wipe and wipe and wipe my hands before picking her up, and then G had to breakdown the crabs and mud lobster for me so I could eat it with chopsticks. It was so yummy!

Yummy pepper crab! Also very messy.  Not a good idea when handling an infant!

We headed home for an early night and gave Baby L a bath in the sink of our hotel room.  She was absolutely adorable and loved it!

Happy baby in the sink bath - she JUST barely fit! Giggles and splashes all around!

Happy baby is happy mommy!

Sunday, we headed to back to Changi Airport. One of the top tourist attractions in Singapore is actually the airport, so we took some to explore the different features including the enchanted gardens with their Koi ponds, and the butterfly garden.  Baby L was wide awake the whole time from sensory overload, so by the time we got on the airplane, she was exhausted! 

Hello Kitty Christmas - Singapore Style!

Baby L enthralled by the butterflies and flowers in the butterfly garden!

Fortunately, since I booked this Singapore Airlines flight on miles, we flew business class and had a little more room for her to sleep on my lap while I enjoyed lunch. G was so thrilled to see his birthplace, and we will definitely have to come back again for a longer stay!

What a spoiled little baby - her first business class flight at only 4.5 months old!