Singapore Short and Sweet

After an amazing flight from Sydney to Singapore (Singapore Airlines- best in service, empty plane, too many flight attendants for the number of travelers, real pillows, real blankets, a menu to choose your food......and real utensils!) we arrived in Southeast Asia.  Singapore is a modern, multi-ethnic, busy, congested, hot, humid, and clean city.  Overwhelmed with unique food choices the first evening, we played it safe and found a ramen shop to hold us over till morning.  It was a warm hug after a long day.

Sri Mariamman Temple

First morning in a new city is always overwhelming.....what to see first, getting oriented, finding maps, figuring out the transportation system, etc.  We walked down to Chinatown and quickly realized that walking was not the ideal way to get around Singapore given the heat and humidity.  We then stopped at the nearest underground MRT station to pick up our transportation passes, then on to visit the Sri Mariamman Temple and Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.  Both were really interesting.  

Old and New...

Sri Muneeswaran Temple

Hawker Market

The Chinese Hawker Market was packed due to the upcoming Chinese New Year in a few weeks (we will be in Chiang Mai, Thailand for that celebration).  We then

in Buddha Tooth Relic Temple 

hopped on a bus over to the Raffles Hotel, known for creating the "Singapore Sling" in their bar, but unfortunately the hotel has been closed for renovations for the past year, oh well.  Next stop was the Marina Sands Hotel to explore our options for our visit there in a few days.  Subway back to visit Little India which was really interesting.  Many vendors in the Market were preparing beautiful flowers on a string to be worn for a festival we were told would be the next evening. 

Dinner was with Lionel, a previous work-colleague of Nathan's back during our time in Israel, and we enjoyed a fantastic seafood feast of fried prawns, black peppered crabs, steamed whole fish, veggies, and rice.  I would never have ordered these items if I were in a restaurant myself, but everything was delicious.  Dessert was an interesting cauldron (dry ice in green-colored water) smoking away with a lemon jelly on top.  Quite the presentation, no comment on the taste!  BTW...remember that Indian festival that we were told was going to take place the next evening?  Well, it was that evening, and on the way back to the hotel we were caught up in a massive traffic jam, as the marchers walked along the streets in beautiful clothing and wearing those beautiful flower necklaces we saw that afternoon.

Lionel cracking open the Pepper Crab

So much food!

Interesting dessert...

Next day we had plans to visit the Botanical Gardens but Nathan woke up feeling under the weather so the day was spent in our cozy hotel room.  Every day can't be perfect and sometimes nature has a way of telling us to slow down. Looking back, it was probably a case of food poisoning, although I ate the same exact food as Nathan.  Go figure?  In the meantime, we had plans to meet Clement and his wife Cheryl, another colleague of Nathan's, that evening.  Had to cancel as Nathan was not going to be leaving the hotel room, so they came to our hotel to check in on us and see what they could do to help.  It was great to see them and nice to know we could contact them for help if we needed.  They even came back the next evening to visit again! 

Next morning Nathan thought he was doing well enough to get out of the hotel (he didn't fully recovery for several more days), so we went over the the Singapore National Botanic Gardens and National Orchid Garden.  A true oasis in the middle of this busy city!  The Orchid Garden was beyond description.  No special building for the orchids here....the heat and 

humidity created the perfect climate for these spectacular flowers.  Who knew there were so many varieties.....we must have seen hundreds of species. Back to the hotel for a rest and to cool down a bit.  Nathan still felt weak, so I left him to rest and headed over to the Gardens-By-The-Bay to visit the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Dome, with plans to meet up later for the light show at the Super Tree Garden next to the domes.  The Cloud Forest Dome was beyond words! 

Cloud Forest Dome

You start by taking an elevator up seven stories and then slowly work your way down through a series of overhead walkways and skyways, and watch the flora and foliage change as you descend elevation.  Flower walls, waterfalls, and secret gardens were tucked away throughout as you descend until you ended up underground where you learned that the entire Dome was a self-sufficient ecosystem, where the power to generate the cooling system, lighting, and waterfalls came from within.  

Cloud Forest Dome top level

Nathan arrived at the Gardens early in the evening, where we met up and found a spot on the lawn to sit and watch the Super Tree Light Show.  The Super Trees are man-made structures, but foliage has slowly been growing up the

Super Tree Garden

structures so that they are starting to look less metal and more natural.  Just after dusk, the light and music show commenced and it was certainly an amazing show.  To top off the evening, we went up the Marina Bay Sands Hotel to the 57th floor Skydeck for a drink and to take in the Singapore Skyline with the full moon!  Can't think of a sweeter way to end our Singapore visit. 

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Drinks on the 57th Floor overlooking Singapore

its all about the view!

   

Marina Bay Sands Hotel	Super Trees Garden at night	Skypool on roof of Marina Bay Sands