leaving for singapore in a couple of days with the kids for a week-any advice on what is best for kids to do?
anything special going on over the new years period?

thanks

The Singapore Zoo and the Night Zoo are definite musts for kids. The Zoo has feeding time with the elephants where for 5 SGL for a basket of food, you actually feed the elephants. If you can afford it, there is a breakfast with the animals at the zoo. I don't know much about that one but it seems popular. The Night Zoo also has a private tour which is expensive but well worth it. You have your own tour guide for your group. You get to feed the elephants by yourself. I thought it was well worth the money.

Bukit Timah is a nature reserve in the heart of Singapore where you can see wild monkeys roaming freely. I would suggest going in the morning. The hike to the top which is the shortest one, is very steep going up. If you have small children, it might be a bit difficult. There are other paths which seem to be less steep but longer.

Sentosa Island has swimming but be forewarned it is a huge tourist trap. There is a lot to do on the island but the only thing I found worth the money was the Fort which goes through the history of the Japanese invasion during WWII. The aquarium was not worth it in my opinion. If you go to the Island, take the cable car. It's pricey but you get an aerial view of Singapore and Sentosa.

Singapore Botanic Gardens are beautiful especially the Orchid gardens. If your kids like huge parks for a stroll then they will like it. But there isn't a lot to do other than walk and look at trees and flowers. The Children's garden I believe is closed atm.

Have fun in Singapore!!!

thanks-is it best to do both the zoo and the night safari or are they basically the same thing??

also,what is easiest way to get around in sing?
going to zoo etc..we are staying on orchard rd

They're right next to each other, but the zoo is open during the day, and the night safari at - well, you know Definitely some overlap in terms of the types of animals, but if this is your sort of thing, I'd do both. You could make a long day of it and do both, if you don't mind putting that many miles on your feet. There is also Jurong Bird Park, but that's in a totally different part of town. Perhaps an activity for a different day if you are into the animals.

Taxis are relatively cheap. The train system (MRT) also usually works pretty well - they've had some rather unusual outages in recent weeks. If you take the train, the Orchard station is in the ION shopping mall, at the corner of Orchard and Scotts - take it to Ang Mo Kio, then get a bus to the zoo (can't remember the number, but you'd be taking it from the beginning of the line to the end). If you are in town for more than a short time, you might want to buy an EZ-link card, which lets you ride the train and the bus. It includes a non-refundable deposit, but also gets you a discounted ride relative to paying for each one individually. Available at any station. If you stay at the night safari until the bitter end, you might have a problem with the last bus to Ang Mo Kio not making it until after the trains have stopped - I'd have to check the schedule to make sure. Or just take a taxi. There's a pretty good chance you'd have to stand on the bus for at least part of the trip, so if that is not appealing, taxi is the alternative. The train system does not go near the zoo.

Orchard Road, at least as of a few days ago, had Christmas lights and trees everywhere, kids might be into that sort of thing. Lots of adults seem to want their pictures taken there too.

How old are the kids?

S'pore being a duty-free port has some fine shopping centers. Steer clear of the Orchard Towers mall after dark though.

I second the Zoo and the botanical gardens recommendations.

I went to high school in S'pore. I'm not sure where you're from but one of my favorite activities was visiting the stalls. Great atmosphere, something you'll never experience in the states. Oh, and the food? To die for! Sentosa is a tourist trap. I lived in S'pore for three years and never went to Sentosa, can you believe it?

Have fun.

The "day" zoo and "night" safari definitely rank high up on the list. For both kids and adults. I think I've been there at least 7-8 times and each time, manage to experience things a little differently.

Not sure how old your kids are too. If a little older, a cultural excursion to Little India or Chinatown may be worth the 1/2 day. If they are younger, then perhaps skip it.

The Singapore flyer can be interesting too. It is Singapore's version of the London Eye. Best at night, if the kids are not afraid of heights.

The zoo is tough to get to on the MRT. Taxi would work better. Note, the subway system is very crowded and NOT stroller/pram friendly. Unless they are mobile and can deal with some pushing/crowds, MRT not recommended.

Depends on what you're shopping for

And the Botanic Gardens are easily accessible by train, with the opening of the rest of the circle line in October.

I would just add that two of the lines (the "red" and the "green") tend to be distinctly more crowded than the others. The zoo trip requires the red line to a bus stop, and most days, the train will be the less crowded part of the trip

If you are travelling with smaller kids: some shopping centers (for example Vivo City) have nice playgrounds and small waterfun park. Quite nice to keep them occupied. The Singapore Zoo has also a waterfun parc which is suitable to kids up to 10 years. Quite fun.

Ive used the MRT frequently with a Twin-Pram. No problems even at peak hours. Singaporeans are very kid friendly, so they usually give way and often offer seats to us even on a crowded MRT.

We'll probably be doing SIN with the kids (3 and 5) in December. The Zoo and Night Safari are definite "musts". I'm considering maybe four days in SIN. Do you think that's enough? Too much?

When we've been as a family, we go for a week and never struggle to fill the time. The primary driver here for us is that if you stay 7 nights, you can rent a serviced apartment which gives soooo much flexibility with the kids, compared to hotel rooms. (sometimes we leave very late on what would have been the 7th night for a flight back to Europe). We've done this three times now, last one was last summer with our kids who were aged 6, 4 and 1, and I have no hesitation in recommending Lanson Place apartments - great quality and a cracking locations.

You might want to check out Palawan Beach on Sentosa - they had a light-hearted pirate type show on (think it's weekends only) but my kids loved it. Also a great water play area and they were building a massive playground there too. If you avoid the big attractions, Sentosa is good value IMO.

That said, the ongoing climb in the S$ makes the whole destination that much more expensive now.

There was a great kids area in the botanical gardens - might sound like an odd combo but it was done very well. They have a duck tour which is good (and/or the river boar tour), there's the Singapore Flyer 'big wheel' and great street food (at the very clean and well organised hawker markets). What's more the high temperatures and stifling humidity mean you don't really want to be rushing around with kids.

A day trip to Pulau Ubin is also good fun (it's a small island just off Changi Village).

We didn't rate Jurong Bird Park unfortunately, but you can easily fill a week.

A link often shared by expats here that gives you some ideas for family fun in Singapore:
http://sg.theasianparent.com/13-weekend-ideas-of-fun/

If you do the zoo+night safari, just take a cab.

Jurong Bird Park is ok but mainly for the show that they do (not sure if it's hourly).

I would definitely do the river cruise (pick the longest option), places along the river are also some of the best to hang out in and take the family for a nice walk.

There are also beaches, parks, water parks, a ski cente, etc., so if you have something like this in mind then they should be easy to look up.

But kids being kids will probably like Universal Studios the most. You might want to fork out a bit more to add the VIP option to your entry passes, allowing you to use special lines instead of the general ones when queuing for rides. This will save you heaps of time. Also make sure it's going to be a rather rain-free day before going there, as some rides will close then until the rain clears.

For other events going on, just check the http://www.sistic.com.sg web site for information on times, dates and ticket availability. Disney on Ice is coming to town, there is also some really good magic show currently going on. A handful of interesting concerts are coming to town too.

Will be there over Thanksgiving week, so only 6 nights in-country - with 8yo and 12yo who've been to Europe, Japan, and Taipei a couple of times, so they're into the MRT, night markets, "exotic" foods, etc - in other words, NOT typical American kids (No Disney, licensed-character-land, Barbie or Hello Kitty visits in our itineraries for instance!)

Any other recommended places to stay? In Europe and Taipei we find it a bit tough to get a hotel room for 2 adults + 2 kids (kids are happy in sleeping bags so bedding isn't the issue as much as permission). Is this likely a problem in SIN as well?

We'll plan to get the EZ-Link - how does SIN's MRT compare to TPE's?

Any suggestions for a day-trip or couple-day excursion into Malaysia?

Just beginning to plan, so what else should we be considering?

TIA,
Richard

I have not been to Taiwan yet but there are definitely not many night markets here.

It's easy to get around on Singapore's MRT, not as complicated right now. However, take note that there is a non-refundable deposit of $5 on each EZ-Link card. It also does not respond as quickly compared to Suica in Tokyo. Stay for a bit at a MRT station and you'll be amazed at the noise of the gantry gates opening and shutting. I'm local and I'm forever afraid that the gates would injure me.

There is an app for this but I think it is paying so just the website:
http://gothere.sg/maps
It provides directions, ETA and estimated costs on public transport (add about 10-15 minutes if your journey includes buses), including all the toll cost and peak-hour charges on taxis if you use the date/time option. There are a couple of short trips I took when the taxi charges come up to the exact cent, so that's pretty amazing. You could avoid taxis taking a longer route though sometimes they know traffic at the time well, so just ask.

E.g. "From Singapore Zoo to Jurong Bird Park", there will be 3 routes provided EACH for buses-only, or a combination of MRT-buses. You can play around with it.

I'm going to guess USS is out of the picture, but don't dismiss Sentosa altogether. There is the sun and the beach, even if it is probably going to be rainy in December.

Plenty of hotels have double-double setups - just plug it into expedia asking for a room to accommodate 4 people.