First Taste of Summer School, Full Experience of Lion City || A Seven-Day International Summer School Trip to Singapore (Including Extensive Videos, Photos, and Summer School Introduction)

Starting when our eldest was two years old, one or two trips a year became a customary plan, growing from a family of three to a family of four. Travel has made our parent-child relationship more harmonious, and being in a different place has also helped the children develop their ability to handle things to some extent. Since last year, when our eldest went to Japan with his father to participate in a Go competition, his horizons have broadened even more, and our younger one has also been clamoring to go abroad. Although traveling abroad is no longer difficult now, I always felt that it would be too monotonous to just travel after making the long journey to a distant country. By chance, I saw someone sharing on Xiaohongshu about children attending international school summer programs abroad. I remembered that friends around me had also sent their children to such school-run summer camps abroad. Unlike those travel groups organized by agencies, these are run by the schools themselves, usually short in duration, and mainly consist of classes at school. The content is very rich and tailored by age, with younger children focusing on games and outdoor activities. After delving deeper into Xiaohongshu, I found that not only European and American countries have such summer schools, but also Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and many other places offer opportunities for younger children to experience summer school. While cultivating the children's English skills, they can also make more friends and enjoy interesting courses. If we could combine it with a family trip, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds? So, this idea began to take root in my mind, and a plan combining summer school with overseas travel started to take shape. Choosing Singapore was a natural fit—reasonable distance, developed economy, a predominantly Chinese environment suitable for children traveling and studying abroad for the first time, plus my husband has a good friend based there. After nearly two months of preparation, a seven-day itinerary combining free travel and summer school was born!

This trip was quite different from our previous travels. Although it was still free travel, the children had to attend an international school from morning to afternoon on the five working days, so our family of four could only explore in the evenings. Due to Singapore's special climate, locals usually start their activities around 10 a.m. and rest very late at night, so various attractions and activities in Singapore are open until late, which is convenient for us and allows us to avoid queuing under the scorching sun. Since the summer school runs from Monday to Friday, I arranged for us to arrive on Saturday evening, giving us Sunday to explore for a full day. After class on Friday, we had another full day on Saturday and then took a late-night flight back. The detailed itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Merlion Park—Singapore Flyer—Gardens by the Bay (Cloud Forest and Flower Dome)—Duck Tour

Day 2: Little India, Haji Lane, Kampong Glam (couples only)—River Wonders and Night Safari (family of four)

Day 3: Chinatown (couples only)—National University of Singapore, Science Centre Omni Theatre, Nanyang Technological University (family of four)

Day 4: National Gallery Singapore (couples only)—National Museum of Singapore, Fort Canning Park, Clarke Quay (family of four)

Day 5: Orchard Road (couples only)—East Coast gathering with friends (family of four)

Day 6: Sentosa Island (couples only)—Universal Studios Singapore (family of four)

Day 7: Hotel pool—Siloso Beach—Skyline Luge—Jewel Changi Airport

Below, I will first introduce the daily itinerary in detail, then separately discuss the specifics of the summer school, registration, courses, etc.

First, let me share the daily travel videos, one per day.

Singapore is not very large; the longest drive from east to west takes only about an hour. However, being in the tropical region near the equator, convenient public transportation is very important for tourists. The Stanford International School where the children attended is located in the north-central part of Singapore, not particularly bustling. Moreover, Singapore's hotel industry is not as developed as China's, with few B&Bs and private hotels, and only a handful of decent hotels. To make it convenient for picking up and dropping off the children, I chose a hotel in Little India, three subway stops from the school, on Ctrip. The reasons are threefold: First, the subway is very convenient in Singapore, reaching almost anywhere you want to go, and the fares are acceptable. Tourists only need to buy a transportation card to ride. You can top up at subway stations, 7-Eleven stores, and the airport. Therefore, a hotel within walking distance of a subway station is the first choice. Second, the hotel's location is very advantageous—the back door of the lobby leads directly to the subway entrance. In the hot summer, this proved to be very important. Third, the room size is moderate, and it is one of the few hotels that allow children under 12 to have free breakfast, which eliminated a lot of hassle and expense.

From Jinan to Singapore, besides Scoot, Shandong Airlines has recently added direct flights. Compared to Scoot, Shandong Airlines has many advantages: the outbound flight usually departs in the afternoon and arrives late at night, which is more suitable for travel than a red-eye flight; the cabin temperature is not as cold as Scoot's, so there is no need to bring long sleeves and pants; although domestic flights often have delays, Shandong Airlines generally manages to arrive early, with a flight time of about five and a half hours. We arrived around 11:30 p.m. and first went through customs. It is important to note that since Singapore implemented visa-free travel for Chinese citizens, customs clearance is very simple and convenient. Children over six years old can also go through the automated gates with adults. You just need to submit your entry information (including passport number, entry and exit times, hotel, etc.) within three days before arrival, and then you can scan your passport at the airport and pass through smoothly in a few minutes. Tourists go through two gates: the first requires inserting the passport to scan the barcode, and after passing, the second gate scans fingerprints and irises. Following the prompts, even without knowing English, it is easy to understand, and it is not difficult for children. After clearing customs and collecting luggage, you will see the UOB counter. This counter is very useful; you can buy transportation cards and phone SIM cards here. To have mobile data, I bought a combined phone and transportation card for Singapore online in advance. The merchant sends a QR code, and you can redeem it at this counter. I recommend adults buy this combined card; it provides sufficient and stable data and is cheaper and more convenient than a portable Wi-Fi. You need to activate it at the counter and then install it into your phone. After removing the SIM card from your phone, the card itself can be used as a transportation card for both MRT and buses. Children over seven need to buy the same transportation card as adults. Children under seven can get a free transportation card at the airport counter, but they need to show their passport. However, the airport counter is not open late at night, but the UOB counter is open 24 hours, which is very convenient. One more thing to note: Singapore transportation cards have a non-refundable card cost of 5 SGD. If the balance is below 3 SGD, you cannot enter the MRT, so be sure to top up in time. MRT stations have places where you can top up with cash, accepting 2, 5, and 10 SGD notes.

We booked an airport transfer service. I must say, taxis in Singapore are really expensive. A one-way airport transfer at night cost us 70 SGD (about 400 RMB) for a journey of only 20 minutes. We arrived at the hotel around 1 a.m., got a good night's sleep, and went for breakfast at the hotel around 8 a.m. The Little India Hotel is located in Farrer Park, close to the famous Little India attraction, so there were many Indian guests. The breakfast was a mix of cuisines, including Indian-style dishes. Overall, the hotel's advantages far outweighed its disadvantages. After a nice brunch, we started our day. On the first day, the children didn't have school, so we visited the most iconic attractions to get to know Singapore. We chose the area around Gardens by the Bay and Merlion Park. First, we took the MRT to Merlion Park to see the famous lion spouting water, then went to the Singapore Flyer, the largest observation wheel in Asia. Although many people recommend riding the Flyer at night to enjoy the stunning night view, since we didn't know much about Singapore yet and hadn't even seen the daytime scenery, why rush to see the night view? It was about a 15-minute walk from Merlion Park to the Singapore Flyer, but it was quite exhausting under the hot sun. Fortunately, any shaded area on the streets of Singapore was relatively cool. The Flyer and the Time Capsule are a complete package: you first pass through a time tunnel that introduces Singapore's history. This takes about 20–30 minutes, and then you queue for the Flyer. There were fewer people during the day, so our family of four had a cabin to ourselves. During the 30-minute ride, we enjoyed the beautiful views of Singapore from above. Since we had pre-booked the Duck Tour at 4:30 p.m., we had about an hour left after the Flyer, so we rushed to Gardens by the Bay. Gardens by the Bay is very close to the Raffles Hotel. The Cloud Forest and Flower Dome attract tourists from all over the world every year. In fact, they are two giant greenhouses containing hundreds of plant species and flowers from around the world, along with elevated walkways and waterfalls. They are great for photos, but young children may not be particularly interested. Fortunately, the greenhouses are very cool and have mist sprays, making it very refreshing. Around 4 p.m., we arrived at the Duck Tour ticket office at Suntec City. The Duck Tour is one of the most popular attractions for family trips, and tickets are usually sold out every day. I had booked online a month in advance. The Duck Tour has two boarding points; make sure you know which one your ticket is for. The one at Suntec City has English commentary, but recently, Chinese commentary has been added at half past the hour. However, from our experience, unless you sit in the very front, you can hardly hear the guide's commentary and basically have to rely on yourself. The Duck Tour holds about 20 people, and the vehicle is quite old. After driving for a few minutes, it enters the Singapore River and becomes a boat. The moment it hits the water is quite exciting. It passes many famous sights along the river, then returns to land and drives around some notable buildings, mostly in the old administrative district. The guide also introduces related history and stories. The whole tour lasts about an hour and returns to Suntec City. Suntec City is a huge commercial center. After getting off, we went to the famous Song Fa Bak Kut Teh, which had a long queue. The taste was really good, and it was worth the half-hour wait. If you have energy left in the evening, you can go to Marina Bay Sands to watch the fireworks, but considering we had to register at school the next day and we've seen plenty of fireworks in China, we decided to go back to the hotel early to rest.