Just over a year after my first visit to Singapore and I was back following a night flight. Not only was I joined by my wife this time, but my mother-in-law was also in tow for a little family trip as she returned there for the first time since her honeymoon 40 years earlier!

As a big Star Wars fan, I really couldn’t believe my luck that our arrival in Singapore was at a time when a Rebel Alliance X-wing fighter and an Empire TIE fighter were exhibiting in a couple of the departure halls at Changi Airport. There was also a special Star Wars Christmas tree decorated with the plush toys of eight major characters which was all part of the promotion for ‘The Force Awakens‘ (2015) and so I dragged my accomplices there for some pictures.

Having checked into our hotel and had a bit of a rest we headed out to Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice restaurant at the Maxwell Road Hawker Center. It famously featured in one of Anthony Bourdain’s TV shows and there had been a huge queue 12 months earlier. Amazingly there was hardly anyone waiting this time, so we all snapped up a small size helping of the national dish.

That allowed me room for Lor Mee from the adjacent stall. This thick starchy gravy with thick flat yellow noodles had been my favourite dish the year before and was the one I most wanted to sample again.

A short walk from there took us to Tanjong Pagar MRT station where we went to Bayfront and visited the Gardens by the Bay which was quite a new a new place back then. There were two giant domes known as Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, and we visited the latter which featured a diverse range of plant life from all corners of the earth with plenty of child-friendly additions dotted here and there.

Outside the world’s largest glass greenhouse was Supertree Grove which provided some nice photos with a 22-metre high walkway (that I didn’t go up) amidst vertical plant displays and the landmark hotel in the background.

By this point my wife and mother-in-law were very tired so we took a break for tea at a cafe in Marina Bay Sands Hotel before ascending Tower 3 to view the beautiful landscape from the Skypark. The views were terrific, and I was glad I got to see them having initially been against going up.

In the evening, we went to Chinatown for dinner but were lacking in funds and unable to find an ATM (we’d all left our Japanese money in the hotel so was unable to exchange any either!) so couldn’t quite enjoy ourselves as much as we’d have liked. We were still a bit hungry afterwards so returned to the super-cheap Maxwell Road Food Center for some late-night extras!

The following morning, we headed off early to visit my sister and her family on Batam Island (Indonesia) where they were living at that time. Earlier that year they had actually stayed with my in-laws in Hiroshima and so my mother-in-law wanted to one day visit them on their industrial island.

We headed out early to the harbour to get the 9:30 am BatamFast boat. However, the first two boats were already sold out so we had to wait a couple of hours which did allow time to get some food. On arrival at Batam Centre one hour later (but at the same time as we left due to the time difference!) we then had to endure a long, long wait in line at immigration. Once reunited, we all headed out for lunch but stopped briefly for a group photo under the Hollywood-style ‘Welcome to Batam’ sign.

Lunch was at Montego Resort in Nongsa where a golf buggy cart transported us from the reception area to a lovely restaurant overlooking the bay. Naturally I had nasi loreng as that’s the only local dish I really knew!

The Japanese contingent was given a tour of the house and taken on individual vespa rides around the estate and thankfully they had a bit of time to just chill and relax before taking the ferry back that night whilst I stayed put.

By chance Leicester were playing Manchester United that night and so my brother-in-law (a Red Devils fan) and I watched that at 12:30 am which made for a long night but a good one as Jamie Vardy opened the scoring to break the Premier League record of scoring in 11 competitive games. What a moment!

Amazingly I was actually left alone to sleep for a bit in the morning as I was expecting an early wakeup call from my nephew whose bedroom floor I was sleeping on. The eldest two kids had a taekwondo lesson which I got to observe and was very nice to see. They didn’t engage in physical battles of any kind so it seemed more like a 60 minute exercise lesson with hints of martial arts movements here and there.

Football followed directly on from the martial arts and some of the kids and me played for a bit on the astroturf outside. It was far too hot to really play though and a swim in the community pool sounded a far better proposition.

Things get pretty busy in Batam at the weekends with many Singaporeans going over to get cheap goods. Along with some political demonstrations the roads were fairly chaotic as we headed out for a final donut and drink before I had to get the ferry back to Singapore to catch up with my wife and her mum.

Ten years on and the kids have obviously all grown up a lot so I can only really reflect on the limited memories I experienced with them. It was not only wonderful to spend some time with them but also having my wife and mother-in-law there for a bit was great too.

Click here to read ‘TF Flashback: A Mouthwatering Food Tour of Singapore (2014)’

Click here to read ‘My Eldest Sister’s Family Came To Japan & Spent Christmas At Our Place’

Click here to read ‘Singapore 2015 Pt I: The Force Is Strong At Changi Airport’

Click here to read ‘Singapore 2015 Pt II: A Day In Singapore With My Wife & Mother-In-Law’