Hanging out with the Harlands

At the end of the last school year our lovely friends the Harland Family relocated to Singapore.  We were so keen to catch up with them that we booked ourselves flights to Singapore for the October holiday before they had even left Shanghai!

Sam was a little nervous about my keenness to return to Singapore.  This is because when we spent two days there as backpackers he had promised that one day we would stay at Raffles!  Luckily for him my desire to catch up with Alex, Mark, Finn, Sofia and Tristan outweighed any desire to stay at Raffles (but I will remember the promise in future!).

The flight from Shanghai is what we refer to as short haul these days - under seven hours!! - and when we arrived in Singapore Mark and Finn were there to meet us, much to the boys excitement.  On arrival at the house the children had a quick catch up and then went to bed allowing Alex and I to catch up properly over one of Mark's expertly made Moscow Mules!

Over the next couple of days we went on a Duck tour, rode the Singapore flyer, explored the Botanic gardens, visited Dulwich Singapore to catch up with some of the teachers from Shanghai, and met up with our old neighbours from Shanghai; Kimberly, Ryan and Teigan. 

On our third day Kimberly, Alex and I decided we needed a proper catch up and reminisce about Shanghai days so Mark and Sam took Finn, Sofia, William and Oliver to Universal Studios (poor TT went to school!) for the day.  They all had a thoroughly good time and it was hard to work out who had enjoyed themselves the most!  

                                    

                                    

In the evening we had a lovely meal out.  The old buildings of the British Army barracks have been converted in to various restaurants and we had a meal in the old church.  

                                 

                                 

On our final day we went to the fantastic Singapore Zoo with Kimberly, Ryan and Teigan.  Just as we were getting a bit warm we came across a waterpark in the middle of the zoo which enabled everyone to cool down, especially when combined with an ice cream.

       

       

       

                                    

       

It was lovely to see some of Singapore but wonderful to catch up with friends. The Hawkridge and Harland children spent many hours just playing in the pool while we all caught up and started to plan the next get together!