Asia trip Day 3 - Singapore

Tuesday February 28

It was rather late yesterday but that doesn't matter when you are on vacation. Slept well and woke up at a good time. We enjoyed that included breakfast again which is way more than we usually have for breakfast at home. It was very nice. And as I mentioned before: we don't have to bother about lunch or dinner.

Sometime between 10 and 11 am (no idea when exactly) we headed out to explore. We were a bit worried about the weather because when we lived here, we can't remember a day when it rained a whole day. We used to laugh about the quarter past 5 downpour which lasted maybe 20 minutes. But we didn't really prepare because surely it would not rain a continues day in Singapore. Well, unfortunately it did. Since we also look for the positive we can say that we were early enough. 

We were lucky because we headed out to get on top of the most famous building in Singapore, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, and most likely one of all in the whole world. The weather was still ok then but got worse and worse.

We had to admit that this was really an incredible building. You have to walk and see a lot of it because there is tower 1 and 2 and 3. Finally you come to the elevator. We came to a place were we had to generate the tickets ourselves and it went incredibly smoothly and in no time (no problem even for us old fogies).

First view from the observation deck.

 

The view was incredible and worth it. We saw of course the symbol of Singapore, the Merlion, the Raffle, St. Andrew's Cathedral and lots more.

The Merlion is so much smaller than I had it in remory. Do you see it at the water's edge?

We had met a couple in the underground when we were looking for the way and talked with each other. They were from Australia. I asked whether they wanted to have their photo taken and they took ours. 

And James took this one and a few others. He usually leaves the picturetaking to me but today he had several to share with me when at the hotel.

Ha, this looked like the London Eye.

So much has changed in the 15 years since we were last  here. It was so interesting to learn about it and we were sorry that we didn't have more time.

The front of the building with the pool etc. We could not go to it. Sorry, not a good picture.

Walking through the lobby of that hotel. A selfie which actually came out ok. There might be hope for me.

Walked across the street. A look back. 

And from here on the weather was not cooperating. We had wanted to walk around the water to the Merlion. Unfortunately it wasn't just a sprinkle here and there but it rained pretty much the whole rest of the day. As always we made the best of it. Walking through that shopping mall I opened one of the glass doors to take this photo. Just thought it was pretty.

It was a place with expensive shops.

Our plan to walk to the Merlion didn't quite work. When we came to the exit on the other side of the shopping mall there was (still) a tremendous downpour. A group of dogwalkers was seeking shelter. 

We were wondering what to do and decided we had not had enough liquid this day yet. Oh my gosh, this was a fancy place. The most expensive beer (for James) and cider (for me). Well, the cider had come all the way from France. Hope you are not thinking that we are complaining. The people-watching was a lot of fun.

What to do? I suggested to take the underground to go to Chinatown. That way we had not to be in the rain. Using the underground actually was a lot of fun. The swiping to get in and out is to easy and practical, but knowing which color line to take has to be learned. Well, we got some experience but of course we are not here long enough to get good. 

James nudged me in the side. No durians allowed. We remember it well from 15 years ago. That has not changed.

Yes, a lot has changed but a lot has not. Singapore is still as clean as ever. The people are so friendly and helpful without asking if they noticed that you are lost or so. Most people are nicely dressed and most have a smart phone. This seemed such a "picture of our times". I very discreetly took this photo. Most likely it could have been taken anywhere in the world.

We went all the way to Chinatown without being affected by the rain but when we popped up out of the station we had to think hard about getting somewhere without being drenched. I also did not know where the place was or what it was called where I had bought the Singapore Airlines fabric. Yes, I thought it would be nice to make another quilt with that.

It was not a fancy place but a two story mall with narrow alleys and one stall next to the other. It looked like the whole upper floor was fabric but there was also hardware stuff and all sorts of other things. So interesting. But I was not lucky. 15 years ago that fabric was available in several places. There was only one stall this time that had what I was looking for. It had really nice Indonesian fabric but it was not cheap any more. The company had also designed something similar now but it was of much cheaper quality. I could not bring myself to make a positive decision. Without having an actual plan in my head for a quilt and know how much I needed I could not. Oh well. James said it had been an interesting experience anyway.

So back to the Merlion. Downtown is such a good place to walk and see all sorts of things. We hoped that the weather would get better. We could not leave the station and decided we needed something to drink. By now it was almost 3 pm. I wasn't hungry at all but this place was interesting and a cup of Chinese tea looked inviting. There were dumplings on offer in all sorts of numbers and with all sorts of fillings. James shared. I had three and they were really delicious. Grandson William would have so loved them. Thinking of you, William!

We even could see how they made them.

Oh yes, it seemed it was getting better again. Where we popped out of the underground we could see the Merlion. From the observation deck we had seen it and thought when going there the reverse kind of photo would be cool. Not quite there yet though.

And then we had a real downpoor again. James took these photos ... getting wet.

Ha-ha, I took this one of him doing it. But I didn't venture out far enough behind the Merlion to take that "reverse" photo with the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the back this time.

We stood underneath an overhang for quite a while hoping it would stop, and then we gave up. Never got the photo I wanted. Oh well...

It was getting late enough and we decided to make our way back to the hotel. Plan was to get out again in the evening for a dinner. We thought about a fancy dinner at the river or a hawker place in walking distance. But neither happened (we just never got hungry enough).

We were trying to find an underground station which is usually not difficult here because there is such a network of the lines. But it still rained heavily and we had to make careful plans to run from one side of the street to the other to be as much out of the rain as possible. Ha-ha, our two umbrellas in our hotel didn't help. When we came to Orchard Station we only had one choice: just to walk in the rain. It was warm and at the hotel we could change and the clothes would dry again.

Back in the room we took hot showers. Soon it was time for the 6 pm happy hour. The canapees were plenty of food and we did not need to go out again. It had been an adventurous day and we had laughed about it a lot. We could not remember ever having had a day like this while we had lived here. Or may be it had not been commited to memory (because it is not a big deal for us). I am writing the blog. Accomplished! Time to turn the light out.

If you are reading this ... I am sorry it is a strange "mostly wet" report. But no complaints. Really.