On New Years Eve we put the kids to bed and then snuck out of the house.

We left our Helper in charge in case anyone woke up, but it really did feel like we were sneaking out. We didn't even tell the kids. It was the first New Year's Eve we had celebrated out of the house for since we had kids - 8 years? We had no plan, but didn't intend to venture too far from home.

We almost stopped at the Marina Restaurant near us, but we didn't really want a drink and we'd already had dinner. The ladies in line behind us were excited when we turned down the table we had been waiting for ensuring them a seat. It was 9 p.m.

Instead we went for a walk. We headed towards the Cable Cars and took a ride up Mt. Faber. We got off and checked out the city lights in the dark. We headed back down and broke their tend by getting off on this side, and not riding across to the Sentosa Island which was hosting fireworks on Silso Beach.

We wandered along the Harbourfront, enjoying the parties and live music hosted by the restaurants along the water. It busy, but not nearly as busy as we were expecting. Some people had obviously staked out prime viewing for the fireworks and were enjoying picnics and/or drinks on the Boardwalk. I saw a bottle of whiskey and a number of bottles of wine/champagne. Drinking in public is legal in Singapore.

We changed our mind and wanted something to drink, but by then we were about 1/2 way out the Boardwalk to Sentosa and the only restaurants there were charging $40 to get in for buffet dinner. So we used our Annual Passes to get into Universal Studios!

In Universal all the Christmas decorations were still up. Here we were shocked by the low crowds. They were open until midnight and had count down fireworks. Universal closes in the low season at 7 pm, so maybe people didn't realize it was open late for New Year's. We rode a few rides with no lines and had a slushy and some ice cream at a patio table outside. The temperature was about 27 C .

We wandered slowly back home along the waterfront and made it home just in time for the fireworks. We did the count down with a little crowd of people from our neighbourhood and we were right between 3 different fireworks show: Silso Beach, Universal Studios, and Mt. Faber. Perfect views of all!

We were home by 12:15 a.m. and found only one child awake!