Most of us have become tourists in our own country this year, what with Covid lockdown regulations still in place. Aand the few travel bubbles proposed – e.g. like this one that was super hyped up and supposed to have started on 22 November – ultimately bursting in spectacular fashion, no doubt again showing just how hard it is for each country to keep the pandemic in check. So, our Facebook feeds this last few months of the year have been filled with posts from our friends of their family staycations. We finally had our own over four days in mid-December last week. I’ve already posted about the property we stayed in – Orchard Hotel Singapore – and a one line summary to that experience there would be OK Comfortable But Some Areas of Improvement.
Here’s a run down of selected activities we did over the period.
Changi Jewel
The retail outlets at Changi Jewel have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, since the usual foot traffic from Changi Airport next to it has fallen to near nothing with few passenger flights departing or arriving Singapore. We dropped off our two guinea pigs for their own staycation at their boarding home in Tampines, then continued onto Jewel. Jewel was largely bereft of crowds by the time we arrived mid-morning at around 10:30AM. But by the time we’d left at 1:30PM, it had become considerably more crowded, especially at the two basement levels with eateries and restaurants.
The Escape Hunt Experience
Who knew that there were escape room experiences in Singapore? The wife really scored on this one – finding us an escape room family adventure tucked inside Concorde Hotel’s shopping arcade for our Day 2 morning programme. The mission? Stopping the evil Chen Corporation from launching nuclear warheads that would destroy the world, and we had just one hour to solve a chain of interlinked puzzles that included re-wiring circuit blocks, ball magnets, riddles, a large number of number locks, stuff that needed UV light to appear, and even 7 bit binary strings.
We absolutely sucked as secret agents though, and goofed at the last puzzle disarming the nuclear launch that we would have destroyed the world – four times over. I asked how long do people normally take to solve this scenario: our guide said 45 minutes. We took 1 hour 15 minutes, and she had to bail us out three times LOL.
Was it worth the SGD120 we paid for it? Definitely – though if you have young kids in tow, they would need to also be able to participate, otherwise the experience might be unnerving for them. Peter at seven years old was able to help – thankfully – otherwise he just might had been in one of his moods asking for food while the other three of us were frantically running around the room trying to find hints and clues!
No pictures, handphones or cameras are allowed in the room where you solve the mission, which I reckon is sensible on account that the last thing any service provider would want is for guests to post the puzzles’ solutions after experiencing it and spoil the adventure for others.
Amazing Castle
This is another family and groupie-friendly experience, and tucked away in Bugis+. The floor area of this game center isn’t very large: smaller than most children indoor playgrounds, but its space is very utilized with nine interesting and varied game levels for kids to get challenged both mentally and physically. Each of the nine levels can only be played by a small group each time though, and while there were just one other small group besides us when we were admitted, it was crowded by the time we left just over an hour later. We paid SGD33.80 for the two kids to play ten games (including repeats), and they really also enjoyed this playground. We were also able to freely accompany admission charges our two kids to make sure they didn’t try dangerous stunts – though there is little possibility of that as the game levels seemed quite safe, and the area is compact that staff can easily keep an eye on you too.
Prawning @ FishBugis+
Still in the Bugis+ mall and located at the seven floor is Singapore’s only indoor – and thus air-conditioned (!!) – prawn fishing pond. For those of us who want to try prawning but will only do so in comfortable environments, this little spot is a godsend. The shop also offers ‘long kang’ fishing but the kids had already tried that in our Downtown East staycation some years back – and that felt like a more authentic setting than the one at FishBugis+. The fish spa was closed though, so we didn’t get to try that.
The pricing for prawning is per rod, and at SGD18 for an hour. So, you could just rent one rod, and have the only family take turns to try.
Continued in the next post!
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