Singapore, Bali
After changing our tickets to stay in Hong Kong an extra week to apply for schools, we almost didn’t make it to Bali. We were dropped off at the airport on a Friday, and told at check-in that Ethan didn’t have the required single blank page required for the visa to enter Bali. The Singapore Airlines staff did an excellent job of changing our tickets to allow us to stop over in Singapore for four nights, while we waited for Monday to arrive and make a trip to the Consulate. During that time, we visited the Singapore Science museum which the boys enjoyed – especially the lightning bolt simulator – Teva (?) coil. We stayed at the YWCA this time, not quite as good as the YMCA, since it doesn’t have a pool, free internet or fitness classes. We arrived at the decision to stay at the YWCA after spending over an hour looking at various hotels around Little India, of which the decent ones were fully booked. Singapore apparently doesn’t lower rates on hotels for walk-ins, so it’s best to book ahead on Expedia or Wotif.
Seems like I’m always talking about accommodation, and the reason it’s such a big issue is that: i) It’s difficult to book ahead because many hotels don’t accommodate families with two children and have a three person limit per room. We have skirted this issue sometimes by booking ahead anyway, listing Toby as the only child, and then hoping the staff will ignore the limitation and/or provide an upgrade, and, ii) Paying for accommodation every night for months on end is very costly, so we try to avoid splashing out on hotels above $100 per night. Even the Y’s in Singapore exceeded this price, whereas the best, most affordable hotels so far are in Bali and Bangkok. I think what we’ve learned from this trip is that sometimes Homestays or Guesthouses are better because you get to socialize with and see how the locals live. Also if the Homestays are run by families, they may have kids for ours to interact with, as well as toys.
In Bali, we watched a couple of people jump off the bungee tower nr. Legian Beach, and Toby said he was willing to go. Since he and I were alone, I asked him to wait for his Mum to watch as well, but she was having none of it, saying it was too dangerous. Instead we spent the next day at WaterBom in Kuta, a water park, where Toby had to persuade me to go down a ride called SmashDown, a solo slide with a long steep descent. It wasn’t so bad after all, but I wouldn’t have attempted it if my six year old son hadn’t gone first. We only spent three days in Bali, thanks to extending our stay in Hong Kong an extra week and then having to deal with the passport issue, and spent the time riding around on a rented moped as well as swimming and body-boarding in the excellent waves at Seminyak beach. This part of the trip was definitely too short but at least there are direct flights from Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Having said that, the entry visas and airport tax are heavy prices to pay; the total for four of us came to about $250, which for three days is a bit steep.