I
t’s no secret that the Lion City
is well set up for kids; in fact,
the sheer family-friendliness of
the place is a major draw for
those relocating from Hong Kong to
Singapore. A recent long-weekend
trip saw our family road-testing the
city’s great outdoors with an active
three-year-old in tow. This is how we
fared…
Day one
Catching an 11am flight from Hong
Kong, we landed at Changi Airport,
surely one of the most kid-friendly
airports in Asia (more on that later),
and were in a cab en route to the city
by 3:15pm. Dropping off our bags
at our hotel at Robertson Quay, it
was time for a quick change before
hitting the streets in search of an
early dinner. My husband regularly
travels to Singapore on business, but
my knowledge of the city is a little
sketchier, mostly consisting of eateries
no longer in existence, thanks to my
backpacker-era points of reference,
now more than ten years out of date.
Fortunately, I recalled that Chinatown
was probably an easy starting point
for our family exploration, and so we
hopped in a cab to Maxwell Road
Food Centre.
This is one of Singapore’s many
fabulous food courts, dishing up
affordable, authentic and well-
prepared food to the masses in a
no-frills setting. Predominantly a
Chinese food centre, Maxwell Road is
a cavernous space of Formica tables,
cooled by ceiling fans and lined with
food stalls, many of which offer the
same dishes. We stopped at the famous
Tian Tian Hainanese chicken rice
concession, where my son and I split a
wonderfully fragrant plate of shredded
chicken and a side order of veggies for
just S$5.50 (around HK$34). Savoury
cravings sated, we hit the fried sweet
potato dumpling stand for dessert,
and weren’t disappointed with these
flavoursome doughnut-like treats. This
is definitely not a diet option, but is
worth every calorie.
After dinner, we had just enough
time to work off some of our meal with
a short stroll along South Bridge Road
to the Buddha’s Tooth Relic Temple.
This modern Buddhist shrine is said to
house a piece of dentistry of the Lord
Buddha himself, originally discovered
in Myanmar, and is a fascinating place
to wander for half an hour or so.
Another place of worship a little
further up South Bridge Road is the
striking Sri Mariamman Temple.
Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple is
notable for its incredibly ornate tower,
depicting hundreds of individual
deities, figures and other colourful
decoration. It is well worth a visit, and
my three-year-old was fascinated by
the “faces” for long enough for me to
snap some pictures.
There was just time for a cool drink
in the bar of the newly refurbished
Singapore
With a weekend to spare, you’ll have plenty of
time to explore the amazingly kid-friendly green
oases of Singapore, writes
Kate Farr
.
Short and sweet
January 2015
39
