Singapore Tuesday

We had an unhurried breakfast by the window of the hotel, watching people go about their business. Then there was some very heavy rain, but fortunately it didn’t last long and we set off, found the HO HO bus stop just around the corner and went to visit the “Gardens by the Bay”. It is an amazing construction with plants from all over the world. A whole lot of “trees” have been built, with climbing plants growing up the outside. The “trees” have solar panels in the top and collect rain water. The gardens have many environmental innovations that greatly reduce the running costs of the site. There are also 2 conservatories that are managed in such a way that they harvest a lot of moisture from the humid air inside and expel it through the roof, creating a Mediterranean climate. It was beautifully un humid and pleasantly cool in both the Flower House and the Cloud Forest. We thought we’d walk around a bit and move on. We were there for about 2 ½ hours.

Back to the HO HO bus stop for a ride to Clarke Quay for a river cruise. We were told that the wind was too strong and to come back in ½ an hour. What a good excuse to stop in an outdoor bar right beside the river. On a hot, humid day like today, and probably most days, the cold Tiger beer was good.

Went back to the boat and it was all go. We had a very pleasant, peaceful cruise on a traditional looking, electric powered boat, along the Singapore River. The breeze on the moving boat was a little refreshing.

We haven’t been on a cable car for a few weeks, so we jumped on the MRT and went to Sentosa again. Nice high up ride across to the island. Rick wanted to try a Segway and there was an opportunity on Sentosa. Turned out the offer on the Singapore Stopover Holiday Pass was for a 2 minute trial ride. It probably took us close to an hour to get from the boat cruise to the cable car station, across to Sentosa, down escalators, on a monorail train, then a shuttle bus to try the Segway for 2 mins. Not sure that it was very good time value.

Back home via the Sentosa monorail, then the MRT, dropped our stuff and off to the hawker’s food market for a feed. We’re now back in the hotel, finishing the wine we opened last night and getting ready to pack for a 7:30 transfer pick up to the airport. The flight is scheduled to leave at 10:45am. Breakfast at the hotel will be too rushed, so we’ll get something at the airport, it’ll also fill in a bit of time. Thought we’d manage with the cash we had, but we’ve pretty much used it all so it’ll be a card tomorrow.

Laura is picking us from the airport tomorrow night, it’ll be hard going into an empty house and Laura being there will help.