Getting around: Kids passes for the MRT - Day 2

Time change challenges - Ms.E fell asleep at 6 pm last night and was up at 3 am for the day, and Jonathan kindly got up with her. Ms.I got up within a few hours of Ms.E. But Ms.C slept till almost 8 am when we went down for complimentary breakfast. Singapore seems to be changing up all our typical habits. I was surprised to find Jonathan on the patio with his coffee and not in the air conditioned restaurant.

Our goal of the day was to figure out Mass Rail Transit (MRT) for the kids. Each person taps their prepaid card when they enter and exit the MRT. Payment is automatically deducted based on how many stops you have traveled.

Ms.C at 7 years old is using an adult card. She got her choice of the refillable cards with different pictures at 7Eleven and is thrilled to carry it in her purse. I feel like we really should have asked at the Ticket Office if Ms.C was actually eligible for the Student Pass. Children over 0.9 metres and under 7 travel for free by getting a Child Concession Pass at the Ticket Office by showing their Passport - That was Ms.E at 4.5 years old. Even though she’s free, she has to tap her pass each time she enters and exits the MRT. Children under 0.9 metres are free; No pass required - That was Ms.I. At almost 2 years old, it won’t be long before she passes the 0.9 metre mark.

The kids loved tapping their cards today as we made good use of the MRT. We traveled to Chinatown, where Ms.C bought a folding fan. She fanned herself all day from that point on trying to keep cool.

Ms.E checking out the loose dried goods for sale on the street in Chinatown.

We walked up to Maxwell Hawker Centre for lunch. Ms.E insisted on what she calls “Chicken and Rice” - Red Thai Curry. I could find Green Curry, but Ms.E was not impressed. Everyone else thought it tasted how we would expect red curry to taste in Canada. Ms.E just ate the plain white rice and I consider it a win that she tasted one piece of the chicken. Ms.C got herself a giant plate of Fried Chicken Wings which she ate with ketchup. Ms.I eats everything. She looked hilarious chowing on a giant chicken wing. Jonathan had his favorite roti and curry.

Lunch at Maxwell Hawker Center

A coworker spotted Jonathan on the way out of the Hawker Centre and he pointed us towards Harbourfront as an area to explore for housing, so we headed straight there on the MRT, transferring between different MRT lines easily.

We think we would be happy living in Harbourfront. A few minutes from the MRT and we were in a neighbourhood with nice condos on large resort style properties. Across the street there is a Hawker Centre with a wet market, various shops and bakeries, and amenities like dental and medical. There was a regular grocery store right on the corner. We wandered down the street and found a public playground that Ms.C and Ms.E enjoyed as Ms.I had a nap in the baby carrier. Across the street we could see the edge of a giant nature park, a section of a golf course, and the online map showed the waterfront just a past that. Wandering back to the MRT we passed the Community Club, which looks like what we would call a Community Centre in Canada. It also had a Nursery/Daycare/Kindergarten.