Day 16 -- Singapore

 6/24/2023 Saturday

Itinerary:

• Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard Centre Hotel
• Food Republic 313 @ Somerset 
• Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Lounge T3
• TWG Tea
• Bee Cheng Hiang 
• Singapore Airlines Airbus 350-900 Ultra Long Range

We woke up late today as Mason was still feeling sick and we checked out our room close to noon as we were meeting my high school friends for lunch and it was a short walk from our hotel. We left our luggages with the bellman and told him that we would be back in the afternoon to go to the airport. We were supposed to meet my friends at Vivo City which was about 30 minutes away but I told them last night if we could meet closer since Mason was still not feeling well. 

After meeting my friends for lunch, we walked back to our hotel to pick up our luggages and called for a big taxi so that it could fit our 4 large luggages. It cost $60 to go from the hotel to the airport and this is actually one of the few times that we had sat in a car facing backwards. The drive to the airport took a bit longer as there was some traffic. Once we reached the airport, we were able to check in to the counter and get our boarding passes so that we can go to the lounge.

We went to the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Lounge at Terminal 3 and it was recently rennovated. After scanning our boarding passes, we entered the lounge and turned right. We saw the bar and some food on the right side and found a seat. I went through the food selection and was initially disappointed as there was not a lot of selection and nothing really I want to eat. After getting a drink, I walked towards the other side of the lounge to check it out and found that there is a huge selection of food and tea. I texted the rest of the family to come over to eat and after eating my favorite laksa, we found some seats to rest while I took the kids with me for some shopping. We went to get some TWG Royal Darjeeling Tea for the 2 dentists that Mason is interning at. Also, went to Bee Cheng Hiang to buy some prawn rolls and they were out of stock. I asked if there was another location and the lady told me to try Terminal 1. So, we took the train to Terminal 1 and finally found the prawn rolls. There were only 4 small and 1 big one left, so I bought everything that they have in stock and they gave me a dumpling. Lesson learn here is to buy them when you are in the city, not wait till you are at the airport. After that, we quickly took the train back to the lounge so that I can take a shower before it's time to board the plane.

We had to go through the security and x-ray machine to enter the gate and we were picked randomly to have a check in our backpacks. After going through our backpacks, we were allowed to board the plane. We were on the Aribus A350-900 Ultra Long Range which only has business and premium economy. There was only 1 bulkseat which was available to pick when I was selecting our seats, so naturally I picked that seat for Mason since he is the tallest in our family at 6 feet. With the bulkseat, he was more legroom space to stretch while we only has a small hole to put our legs. But since we are not tall, it didn't bother me at all. The only thing that is a bit inconvenient is that we have to flip the seats if we want to sleep instead of just pressing a button to lower the seats like most other airlines. We had to call the flight attendant to help as we didn't know how to do that. 

I had also pre-order our food through Book the Cook and was able to select my favorite dish, Laksa again. The food served was super delicious and I could even say that the satay was one of the best that I have tasted and even better that the ones that we tried on our trip. If you want delicious food, you need to depart from Singapore as they have local cooks and facilities to cook such yummy cuisine. 

After almost 15 hours of flying due to headwinds, we arrived at our airport and was able to enter quickly due to our global entry. We texted our driver and he came shortly after we picked up our luggages. 

Day 15 — Singapore

6/23/2023 Friday

Itinerary:

• Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard Centre Hotel

We woke up really late today as Mason is still sick, so we don’t plan to do anything today. We just rested in our room until Mason felt a bit better. We left our room around lunch time to go to Marina Bay Sands Mall for some lunch and shopping. After spending a couple of hours there, we took the MRT to Orchard Road for more shopping. 

Since Mason was still feeling weak from not eating much,  we returned to our hotel to rest before heading out for dinner.

Day 14 — Siem Reap, Cambodia and Singapore

6/22/2023 Thursday

Itinerary:

• Park Hyatt Siem Reap Hotel
• Siem Reap Airport (REP)
• Changi Airport (SIN)
• Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard Centre

While checking out of our hotel, the front desk asked how our stay was and I briefly mentioned that it was good but my son had diarrhea the entire day yesterday. He talked to the executive chef and the chef gave me some tips on what to feed Mason as well as told me that I should have told him yesterday so that he can prepare some food for Mason. He asked when we were leaving and I told him in a couple of minutes as our driver is coming to pick us up. He asked me to wait a few minutes and went to get some bread and bananas for Mason to eat. Super nice guy and people at the hotel. Highly recommend to stay at this hotel if you are in Siem Reap.

The driver was waiting for us and we left for the airport which was about 15 minutes ride. After checking in, we went through customs and had to show our passport, boarding pass, immigration card and copy of visa. They took away our arrival card and visa before stamping on our passport.

We went through the security check and proceed to the lounge. There was no one at lounge and we were there for a while before another family of three came. The food selection at the lounge was pretty good compared to the one in U.S. and we had our stomach filled with food before boarding our plane.

The flight to Singapore was about 1 hour and 55 minutes and landed in Terminal 2 in Singapore. Terminal 2 was under construction, so some area was covered and it was quite a bit of walk to go through customs. Since we have U.S. passport and had filled out the declaration form online, we were allowed to use their automated line to scan our passport, eyes as well as right thumb.

After getting through customs, we went to pick up our luggage and took a taxi to our hotel near Orchard Road and it cost SIN $55 for a big van so that it can fit our 4 large luggage.

We checked into our hotel and when we went inside our room, it smell moldy and I had to go back to the front desk to change our room. The front desk was very nice and told us that they have another room for us which we went. This time, the room did not have any smell, which was a good sign but the bathroom was full of molds. We didn't change our room again as we were all tired but I am quite disappointed in both of our hotel stays in Singapore as the rooms in both hotels were not well kept and for the price that we are paying, I was expecting a bit better room condition. The hotels in Bali and Siem Reap were in a much better condition than Singapore.

We rested a bit before Anthony and I ventured out to find food. Mason was still feeling sick, so we bought him some porridge and noodles for Madison. After having our late lunch, we went to my old neighborhood to buy some local snacks before returning to our hotel with some dinner.

Day 13 — Siem Reap, Cambodia

6/21/2023 Wednesday

Itinerary:

• Park Hyatt Siem Reap Hotel

We woke up late today as Mason was having diarrhea and not feeling well. After resting at our room, we went downstairs for breakfast and they was only 1 family there. Not sure how the hotel survive because they are more employees than guests every restaurant we go to. Mason barely ate anything at breakfast. 

We returned to our room to rest more before heading out to the Heritage Mall with Madison which was about 15 minutes walk from our hotel. The mall was pretty empty as well and some stores were closed. We had our Starbucks drinks and I had their local specialty drink, Mango Passion Blended drink. It was pretty good. 

We returned to our hotel as Madison was bored and we went to buy lunch to eat at our room. Later in the evening, we had dinner and left to go to the Royal Independence Gardens but was not allowed in as I think they only allowed locals. So, we took a couple of pictures outside before walking to Made in Cambodia which is a small area that has stalls selling locally made products. There was not many stalls and we shopped a bit before walking to Pub Street again to buy more souvenirs. We did some bargaining and most of the stall owners were very nice but we encountered 1 that was very mean and told us to never come again. Wow, that was eye opening as we thought that even if the price wasn't right, at least be polite as who knows, we might come again and buy other stuff.

We returned to our hotel afterwards and just spent some time with Mason as he was still not feeling well and couldn't eat much.

We rested early as we had to leave for the airport early in the morning.

Tips for Siem Reap, Cambodia

 1. June is their raining season but for the 4 days here, we didn’t encounter heavy rain except some drizzle. Also, on the day tour to Angkor Wat, it didn’t rained at all but when we returned to the hotel, we saw that the ground around it was wet so it had rained in our hotel area while we were at Angkor Wat which was about 15 minutes away. October to January are their dry season and also colder according to our tour guide, so you might also want to consider coming during these months.

2. If you are really interested in Siem Reap, you should come now. There are not many tourists, so you can have less crowd and no line at famous attractions. You also have less people on your tour. 

3. Buy a SIM card when you arrive in Siem Reap as I couldn’t find one easy online before I came.

4. Bring enough U.S. dollars as you can use dollar in Cambodia. Also, make sure you bring some small changes and no tears in the notes as they are particular on the condition of the notes. They also don’t normally take $100 bills, so we had to exchange at our hotel for small notes first before paying the vendors. Not as many places take credit cards and if they do, they usually take Visa and no American Express.

5. You do have to bargain if you are buying from the small stores as they usually give you a high price. We normally try 50% off and have always been able to buy the stuff that we want. So, you can probably go lower but we wanted to let them make some profit since they don’t have many tourists. 

6. Restaurants near Angkor area and downtown are usually more expensive, so you can go further out if you want cheaper food. But overall, their prices are still much cheaper than U.S. except for high end hotel restaurants.

Day 12 — Siem Reap, Cambodia

6/20/2023 Tuesday

Itinerary:

• Park Hyatt Siem Reap Hotel

We didn’t have any thing planned for today as I knew that we would be very tired after yesterday’s long day tour as it was a lot of walking under the hot and humid weather of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 

It was a good decision as our legs were sore this morning. So, we woke up late for breakfast and just relaxed at our room till lunch time as we went out for lunch. We were planning to eat at the restauarnt, Try Me which had very good online reviews but we changed our mind after arriving at the restaurant. It was so hot in the restaurant as it didn’t have AC, so we ordered takeaway to eat at our hotel. 

After lunch, we rested a bit at our room before heading to the pool for a swim. We also went to the gym to shed some calories as we ate a lot during this trip. We took a shower after that and relaxed at our room before housekeeping came for turn down service and we decided to head downstairs for dinner at the hotel and watched the live performance of the traditional dance.

It was a great show but we got bitten by the mosquitoes while eating at the outdoor seating. After dinner, we went to Pub street to check it out at night and it was somewhat busy with lots of music playing and people eating at the restaurants. It was fun hanging out there and also shopping for some souvenirs. I feel bad for the owners as they don’t have as many tourists and was desperate for business.

Day 11 — Siem Reap, Cambodia

6/19/2023 Monday

Itinerary:

• Angkor Wat Temple
• Ta Phrom Temple
• Bayon Temple
• Phnom Bakheng Temple

Today, we woke up early as our tour guide was going to pick us up at the hotel around 7:40am. When he arrived at the lobby and saw that Madison was dressed in shorts, he told us that she would not be allowed to go to the third floor of the temple even though I told him that we bought some scarves to cover her legs. He said that everywhere else will allow her to cover in scarves except the third floor. He said that he has time to wait for her to go and change. So, Madison went quickly to our room to change.

After changing into a long dress, we followed the tour guide to our van that was waiting outside. We felt sorry for the other guests that were waiting inside the van as this was a shared tour. Luckily, everyone was understanding. Next, they went to pick up another couple from a different hotel before taking us to their office which was a coffee shop while they wait for everyone to show up. We waited quite a while before they divided us into different vans. We were with another 2 groups for the tour. First, the tour guide took us to buy the tickets and there was different lines for different pass based on the number of days. We bought the 1 day pass but you can buy the 3 day pass if you would like to return to see other temples for more than 1 day as it cost $37 for a 1 day pass and only $62 for a 3 day pass. They took our pictures when we paid for the tickets and we had to show our tickets at each temple that we visited. After getting the tickets, we went to Angkor Wat and the tour guide explained a lot of the history to us. It’s amazing how they were able to build and carve Angkor Wat in the late 12th century. The tour guide also took pictures of us and he also taught us different poses to make the photos more interesting. Also, he mentioned that they only have about 15% of tourist back compared to pre pandemic and that’s why we don’t see a lot of people and also there was no line to go to the third floor. It used to be at least an hour of wait time as they only allowed 100 people at a time but since there are not many tourists, we don’t have to line up. Also, it was closed yesterday as it was full moon, so we got super lucky that we get to visit the third floor. It was a pretty steep stairs to climb and although I was afraid of heights, I still managed to climb up.

 

After spending a couple of hours at Angkor Wat, he took us to lunch at a local restaurant before heading to Ta Prom where Angelina Jolie made it famous with her Tomb Raider movie. We took some pictures there posing as Angeline Jolie. It was fun. This was the temple that the King built for his mother.

Next, we went to Bayon which is the temple that he built for himself. There was a lot of big red ants and one of the person in our group was bitten. 

We admired the carvings before heading to Phnom Bakheng Temple which was one of the oldest temple built in the late 9th century to see the sunset. This temple was built even before Angkor Wat. The tour guide took us to a shortcut route to go up the hill. This route was previously taken only by the elephants who took tourists for a fee of $45 but since the pandemic, they had banned the use of the elephants. After the sunset, we were taken back to our hotels. 

We got really lucky as the weather forecast showed some rain but we didn’t encounter any rain at all in Angkor area. But when we reached our hotel, we did noticed some water on the ground, so it had rained earlier at our hotel area.