A Busy Day in Singapore

December 10, 2012
Singapore

This morning we got going around 10AM. The free breakfast (a $30 value) because of our Gold status at the Conrad was served in the lobby restaurant called Oscars. It was a pretty darn good buffet. I mean any breakfast buffet that has marshmallows and M&Ms on offer is going to be a winner in my book.



The sky was less dreary today, so we decided to go up in the Singapore Flyer. It was the perfect time to go for a ride. Our car only had seven people in it. The limited group made for super enjoyable experience because we could walk around and see whatever we wanted. The views were incredible but my favorite part of the ride was our fellow passengers “Thelma and Louise.” Two older Australian ladies had fun hitting on Scott. They told us they had just gotten off a cruise ship and that their fellow passengers had nicknamed them, understandably, Thelma and Louise. My absolute favorite part was when one of them eyed Scott and told him, “They really do make everything bigger in Texas.” My only disappointment from the ride was that I didn’t manage to spot any basketball courts. Singapore obviously is a small place, so I’m not shocked there are not hoops with views of the major architectural jewels, but I am a little bummed.







After the Flyer we walked to the Marina Bay Sands. It is world renowned for its ship like architecture and infinity pool. The property feels much like that of one in Vegas. We saw both an ice skating rink and canal with gondola tours much like those in the Venetian in Vegas. Scott and I both wanted to attend a tour that allowed us to see the pool. Unfortunately when we got to the ticket place we were told the only open tour was the 9PM. It would have been cool to see it at night but we had made plans to go to the night safari this evening. Therefore we decided to come back to the hotel tomorrow for the morning tour.



From the Sands we walked to the Merlion. The Merlion may be Singpores best known statue. I remember visiting this with Dad some years ago. Scott and I took some fun pictures there and then proceeded to walk back toward the hotel for lunch.



At this point I was sort of resigned to not getting a great hoop picture in Singapore. And then it happened. As Scott said... “Her pace quickens. Her heart races.” As with all good jokes the best part was, this was true! I hustled over to what turned out to be a cricket club that had a random backboardless hoop. I looked down the grassy cricket field and spotted what appeared to be another hoop but this time with a backboard. As we walked that direction, thunder and lightening started to roll in. Scott and I hustled but it was pouring by the time I got the hoop. I took a sample shot. I think it will turn out great when I return with better weather.



We were both pretty hungry post our hoop detour so we decided to just grab some quick mall food in the endless mall tunnel that connected the MTR virtually to our hotel. After lunch Scott wanted to rest up for our night safari, so he went back to the hotel. I went to China town in hopes of locating a specific Christmas present. Sadly I didn’t find it. I did return to the hoop and managed to get a picture without rain and a little but more interesting of a sky.

For my adventures around the city I primarily rode the MTR. Something that is truly remarkable about Singapore is its cleanliness. I had a can I wanted to throw away at one point and for the life of me I could not find a trash can. How the city stays so remarkably clean without even having trash receptacles for people to put things in, is amazing to me. Part of the reason might be wonderful gentleman like the little old man below. He is how I finally to get rid of my can. I saw him sweeping part of the MTR station and he had a plastic bag that I assumed was for trash. I approached him and asked if I could give him my can. He literally seemed nearly overjoyed to take the can. I want more of people like this guy in my world.

I was late getting back to the hotel to meet Scott but fortunately he had overslept on his nap, so our timing worked out pretty well. We originally were considering having dinner at the night safari but decided instead to just eat in the lounge. We arrived at the safari just when it opened at 7:30PM. The experience was as fun as a I remembered. Scott and I had been talking about going on a real safari early in the day. That’s the trip I most want to take. Scott didn’t sound very interested in it. At the end of the night safari he told me that he now wants to go on an actual African Safari. There were two main highlight for me from this visit. The first was hearing Scott freak out and squeal like a little girl while walking through the bat cave. The bats were sort of creepy but definitely worth seeing. The second highlight was watching the kitty below’s leaping ability. 

When we returned from the safari at 11PMish the night sky was clear and beautiful. I decided to go and check out my hoops for a night shot. The pictures turned out okay but this was another instance where Ben’s camera would have been very helpful. I’m now back at the hotel and very ready to sleep.

Until tomorrow,
Katy