Day 17 - And you all thought we were done

Well hello everyone from wonderful humid Singapore.  With the rush to get yesterday’s post up before we boarded our flight I think I may have left you all with the impression that we were on our way home.

Well hold on to your virtual passports because we have 2 more days of adventuring! We left Shanghai and flew to Singapore where we will spend 2 nights. We know this is not enough but given we love Singapore Airlines we also know that we will be back through again in the future.

We arrived into Changi Airport at 10.00pm and were through immigration,  bag collection, money exchange and through customs within about 40 minutes. We grabbed a taxi who drove us to our hotel which is fairly centrally located in China Town. (Had to keep the theme going!)

By 11.30 we were all checked in and ready to sleep (well Ian was ... I was wide awake!). After a good long sleep we were up and getting organised for our day. We planned to explore 2 areas today ... firstly China Town and then, after a break in the worst heat of the day, we would head out to explore the Marina Bay area.

So ... just after 10.00 am we headed out. No guides on this leg of our trip. Just the two of us, a map, 2 phones and some Ad Labs to help us learn more about the area. 

We stopped for "breakfast" at MDM YAP'S CAFE ... a bowl of Mee Rebus and a kopi for me. Egg noodles with bamboo shoots, tofu and a hard boiled egg in a thick curry gravy.  My kopi (coffee) was thick and black and strong ... and the best coffee I have had in 15 days!

We then began our exploring.  We used 3 ad labs to take us around China Town. The buildings are amazing ... old, shuttered and colourfully painted. We saw amazing murals depicting the area in the past, visited several temples ... Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Muslim and also a Methodist church. We wandered through markets selling souvenirs but also markets selling fruits and vegetables. The one way streets make it easy to walk around as you only need to watch for the traffic from one direction.

Murals …

Temples, shrines and churches…

Markets …

We stopped for a cool drink in a hawkers market. Hundreds of small store fronts, each specialising in their one or two dishes. The hubbub of the area was infectious. Searching for a table you come across spots where a tube of hand sanitiser or a packet of tissues or even a phone case indicate that that table/seat is spoken for. And everyone respects it ... no one moves them aside to claim the seat. They just look for a free spot!

The major streets have overpasses that connect to buildings so if you don't want to be at street level you can walk around rhe area just moving along the elevated paths and bridges. Very convenient!

We stopped for lunch at a second hawker market and after perusing all the options decided on Sandakan signature pork fried noodles. We sat at a table right near the hawker stand, much to the delight of the young couple running the stand. They watched us eat and smiled and waved at us. When we finished and were leaving they asked if it was good ... and were delighted when we gave them a big thumbs up. They told us to come back soon!

Flowers …

Such intricate details …

And so then we headed back to our hotel with a quick detour to visit the Library@ChinaPoint, a volunteer run public library supported by the NLB of Singapore. Located on the 4th floor of the shopping centre it was packed with people. So many browsing the shelves, or sitting watching the world go by, some working on computers and some just sleeping in a comfy chair. It was a lovely space, clearly well used and respected. What has surprised us most (and perhaps saddened us) about both this library and the Shanghai Library is that it appears that there is little fiction available. Reading seems to mainly be for knowledge only with only a small fiction shelf for reading.

 

 

After a rest and a chance to write the first part of the blog we were all set to head out for the second part of our adventure  ... and the heavens opened and the torrential tropical rain descended. 

Not to be deterred by a bit of rain ... okay maybe several mm ... we headed out with our ponchos and aimed to keep undercover as much as we could. We meandered our way along using bridges, underpasses, the metro train underpasses and any verandahs we could find. Eventually the rain became too heavy so we donned our ponchos and walked to the river front and to Merlion Park.

 

Here we found the Merlions  ... head of a lion and body of a mermaid. There are two ... one facing the river and one in the park. Both spray water from their mouths. We then walked along rhe waterfront to Marina Bay Sands. We wanted to see at least one light show on this trip and decided to do Spectra  ... a water and light show. 

 

We ate dinner in the food court in the shopping centre. We had to walk over a kilometre through the shopping centre to get to it, past Cartier,  Tiffany's,  Dolce and Gabbana, Mont Blanc ... just to name a few. It was a massive food court  ... the food was good ... but pricier than the hawkers markets! 

And then out to watch the light and water show. Great music, fabulous lighting, water every where! 

Finally, we headed back to Furama City Centre. We caught an MRT (train … subway … metro) back to China Town, walking through the shopping centre and seeing the flowers and the water display on the roof. A quick tap with the credit card gets you on board … three stops later you pop up almost at your hotel. Passing a 7 Eleven … well … one must have an ice cream! Ian had a Unicorn Cornetto and I had Apple Crumble.

What a great day!

Steps …17,526

Kms … 13.39

Photos … 588

Ad Labs … 3 (plus we did one last night at Shanghai Airport).