Island for children

The Easter weekend saw us in Singapore on a family long weekend. The flight out was, as predicted, wonderful. If you are travelling with a toddler and have the cash or miles fly the new Singapore airlines business class then beg, borrow or steal to do so - the seats could house a family of 5 so Eve sat next to me to eat her lunch at the same time as I ate mine. It was wonderful not to have a squirming toddler on my lap while I threw bread and pasta onto her head. Anyway, I digress. Singapore is a brilliant place for children. Most families new to Asia, given a choice between Hong Kong and Singapore, tend to choose there simply because on the face of things it is so child friendly. I must admit it is. The whole place is set up for kids. Aside from the Asian love of all things small and cute, everywhere is child-friendly. Every restaurant or cafe we went into had child seats - something I have never found anywhere else - and people to help you get them and put them in place. Even the Indian cafe on the beach where we went, bikini clad, for lunch had children's seats and a children's menu. Almost every major attraction had a special area for children so we enjoyed the botanic gardens (with a children's garden complete with sandpit and fountains to play in), the zoo (kidszone with a pool and little pull along carts for the kids to ride in), and the aquarium (a petting pool full of stingrays). Even when Eve was shouting at the top of her lungs at breakfast in our nice hotel, the staff would play peek-a-boo with her and other guests would smile and laugh at her. They even have a toy museum. It was the perfect child-holiday.