Singapore Sling Tour: Day 7 Another museum day

 

By the numbers

12,818 steps

10.01 kms

 

The weather prediction was for rain and looking outside, I did want to be off pretty quickly but had laid in bed for a little longer than we should have since we had an early morning phone call the morning before. I had a look at the museum we had missed when we visited Raffles as we could have gone to a toy museum. I had looked at the website and thought against buying tickets as I didn’t know what time I was going to get there. That was good, although by the time we got downstairs the weather had started turning. By the time we left where we had breakfast it was pouring like cats and dogs. We ended up stopping under a building to wait for it to ease, while watching people who didn’t have umbrellas with them running through the rain trying to find some cover even though they were soaking wet already. The rain eased just enough that we could walk towards the shops and the train without worrying about getting too wet. Luckily part of it was sheltered enough that we could walk without our brollies.

 

We got off the train at City Hall and tried walking towards the direction that had Raffles. It was a pretty long walk and we ended up popping out of two exits before we ended up finding the right one as one lot the traffic lights were on the wrong side of the road as you couldn’t cross. We were basically across the road from Raffles at this time and it turned out to be funny as we basically walked all around the outside of Raffles as we found the museum we were after and at the back of Raffles they also have an Indian doorman at that side too. At the entrance to the museum, we found that we had to go online and sort out our tickets as entry was via QR code. 5 mins of going through the order process and trying to find an email as we did it on mum’s phone. We left our brollys outside too as the guy said they would be alright. The museum was all about the different types of toys from robots, space toys to the popular ones like Popeye. The displays told the story about the various genres like between manga and Western comics. It was good starting from the top floor and working our way down the stairs until we reached the bottom. It wasn’t a huge museum and it did have some toys that were pretty rare. Mum even noticed a few from her childhood and ones that other family members had.

 

By the time we reached the bottom it was no longer raining and I wanted to see the Memorial to the civilian victims of the Japanese Occupation. Our umbrellas had vanished from the spot we left them, although they were at the entrance to the museum and safe. I had been worried they had been taken as I didn’t want to get wet if it rained again. I was wanting to visit a shop in the Suntec building that was a shopping centre. There are so many shopping centres and they all seem to be doing well. After the monument, we went wandering through the shops. There was confusion to the plans as it was thought we were going to Fort Canning Hill first, but I thought to visit what is closer and then head off. There were plenty of people floating around for a Sunday. I had to use maps to find the shop I was looking for and even the store directory wasn’t helpful. Turns out the shop was directly above me and off the escalator so I was in the right place, just not the right floor. I ended up with the store and wandered around. Several other similar shops later we had to have a quick bite before I thought it might be best for once to head back earlier, which we did by taking the Downtown line and then the normal line to Novena. We are getting used to catching the train even though there have been times that we had jumped onto the wrong escalator, so had to return the way we came and then onto the right one, which is sometimes the one next to the wrong one. On returning to home base we chilled for a little while before heading out for dinner after an extensive search and found a pancake place that served decent meals. There are some others we will have to try.

 

Singapore Sling Tour: Day 6 Gardens by the bay

 

By the numbers

22,958 steps

17.96 kms

The strange thing is I am with someone who has a similar phone and they have recorded less steps with their phone than myself. Yet we do just about the same amount. Could be the position of the phone, though Google thinks my bike is a car and then a push bike so there is that too.

The weather was looking kinda wet, but it was just cloudy and I was hoping to get elsewhere before it decided that it wanted to rain. We were up early enough and when we did leave, we were down at the shops for breakfast before heading into the city. The plan for the day was to visit Gardens by the bay as there were several things to see there that might be worth going. We got part wayu to the train station and the heavens decided to open up, luckily we were under cover near the two local hospitals. We had to cross the road and then following the cover, we actually found another entrance to the train station that cut a whole lot from our walk plus it kept us dry. We got out at a station near Marina Bay sands, but I found later there was actually one close to Gardens by the Bay right underneath Marina Sands hotel. We walked around the outside and then went up to the top to cross the road and head towards where the gardens were. I stopped to take photos and could see the rain coming and mum decided to keep on walking. I got under cover right as it started raining and I was wondering where mum was. She came rushing back in the pouring rain as I just laughed. It became a heavier tropical downpour as we both waited. Turns out if she had gone down the escalators down the far end of the path where she was, then she would have been under cover.

 

Luckily the rain had eased off and we were back to wandering with mum pointing out that we could do something else due to more rain. I pointed out where we were going was actually under cover. We ended up at the information centre where we got tickets for the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. The Super tree observatory was actually closed due to storm activity. The first place we wandered into was the Flower Dome and it had plants from all over the world from a certain climate and where it was constantly spring. It was pretty much crowded inside and we wandered looking at the flowers and the one part that was going to end after Sunday was a whole display on roses from around the world like from Turkey. There were Orchids in the building as well and I did hear some music playing. Turns out it was rehearsals for world youth day on Monday I think it was. They had plants from South Africa and even from parts of Australia that had certain temperatures. While wandering amongst the roses several youngish guys were loudly high fiving each other thinking they were so cool as they just wanted to hear the skin of their hands slap together. I loudly uttered what wankers they were and that they were a bunch of sepos (Americans). They were not heard from again as they quickly walked off as they had obviously heard me, which was intended. They were white, so I assumed they were Yanks by how they acted as they were not Aussies as they would have commented back. We did realise after a while that we had missed some spots towards where we had walked in. The part we had missed were all to do with desert plants and succulents especially about how they survived from being eaten like how they would look like a stone, had spines or even look like they were dead. We ended up finishing there and were happy that it was cool inside. We walked out through the gift shop and got something for lunch.

 

After sitting and having a little bit of lunch, we went into the other attraction we had booked to walk into. That was the Cloud Forest. It was another cool area that was temperature controlled. On entry we were greeted by a huge waterfall with people above it and in the middle. This was all part of the structure of the cloud forest. As we walked, we came across a whole section to do with Orchids literally. At this rate my phone will be very full of flowers and I am going to take it literally. I have by now several hundred photos of Orchids and flowers. There are orchids from Cambodia specifically from the Angkor Wat area. I was happy to wander along taking photos and having an Orchid guide tell me if they have that exact one at home or not. We could catch a lift to the top floor of the forest and then work our way down through the walk way. Luckily it was all under cover or else it would have been pretty humid. There were many plants associated with the forest including Orchids, and even the plants that eat insects. Throughout there were carvings of animals including spiders. I thought it was interesting and crowded, I should say there were plenty of people there. We eventually made our way to the bottom as we walked behind the waterfall. There was a lower garden called a secret garden, but that wasn’t very secret and even had mini orchids. I would say that it was worth coming here today when we could have turned around due to the weather. We did end up in the gift shop looking for things that would grab our interest and they did do that..

 

At the time we walked out, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the room. Though after a little bit of a rest, I went for a wander to get some food and had a look around at some of the back streets. I walked where I had been last time I was in Singapore and think some of the shops had changed including the hotel I stayed in as there were two Hotel 88s in the street. The airforce were doing their practice runs in formation as well. I did bring back food and came across some other things in one of the shops. If only we had a microwave or even a bigger fridge then we could store more things. Its scary how there is a whole foodie type culture here and many seem to be open all night, but that would suit anyone especially for snacks.

Singapore Sling Tour: Day 5 Museum wanderings

By the numbers

2 museums

1 park

16,660 steps

13.54 kms

 

The day started off with a nice sleep in although my phone gives the time of both here and back home, which is a 2 hour difference. That means I have been sleeping in while here as time slowly ticks by. The weather looked to be pretty good and we pretty much left not long after getting up. Data on my phone had rolled over as it had somehow not done so the day before as for some reason money couldn’t leave my account, but today it could. We were heading to the National Museum as I had not been there since something like 2011 at least. My phone map tried sending me in the wrong direction as I had walked out of Dhoby Ghaut, I made sure to check it and I was going the wrong way. I soon found myself going in the right direction and we were out the front right as they were opening at 10am. They did seem to be doing some renovations to one side of the building, but we were able to get our tickets.

The museum also had school kids that were floating around with their schools too and a teacher telling off a group for mucking around as something had happened the day before. We had to wear our stickers so that security could let us in. The National Museum of Singapore told the story of Singapore when it was just a small island part of the many kingdoms in the area to when Raffles appeared on the scene during the 1800s, and he was only there for less than a year of the history of Singapore, but he had influence. The story went on to tell the story of many individuals like the early money makers from India and the Chinese people of influence. The story led smack bang into the invasion of Singapore by Japan and the eventual return to a British colony, where it didn’t really take long before the independence story began from the struggles to the growth into a powerhouse it is today. During our wander we had to stop for lunch, where I ended up with an egg and mayo sandwich and the Americans next to us were chowing down on anything. There wasn’t much to the museum that was left and we did a trail that took us from the top floor to the bottom where we were shown ever moving landscapes. At the bottom was an exhibition about trees in Singapore and certain ones that were special to certain people.

 

When we left it seemed to have gotten darker and I wanted to show mum Fort Canning as I knew some of it was an easy walk. We just happened to take the escalators up as they only operate during certain times. We made it to the garden, when the heavens opened up and it rained for the first time during the day that we have been out. Luckily we had shelter and waited for the rain to ease before wandering off. We had a quick look at one of the gardens before trying to make our way up to the archaeology dig that I had come across last time I was here. The area was covered so it wouldn’t get washed away. After a look around at the artifacts that had been found, I wandered down the path to look at what was left of the cemetery. By that time we were ready to make out way to the next museum we were going to visit.

 

The Asian Civilisation Museum was the next place on our list to visit, and we walked from Fort Canning park to the museum that was likely around a kilometre away. We walked past the National Gallery and over to a building that I had thought was what I was after since it had a close of 9pm. It wasn’t. It was an auditorium of sorts and what I was looking for was next door. We both had to stop before a drink before exploring the museum. I had chosen today as it was Friday and meant the museum closed at 9pm, so we wouldn’t be rushed around. The museum was actually interesting covering on the religions and cultures throughout the Asian continent and India as well. It was interesting seeing the different countries views towards the many deities that were out there especially in Hinduism. The trade of ceramics within all the countries were traded at some point, and there were even shipwrecks that had ceramics found, but some of the items recovered were far older than the vessels themselves, though there was controversy with the commercial use of archaeologists instead of having them do detailed documentation. They could identify where many of the ceramics were found and which locations the kilns were that created them. There were school kids in this museum too and they did seem to be a bit better behaved than the ones in the other museum. One thing the museum had a display of were replicas of the pagodas that were in China. Not only were the movement of trade items covered, but the migration of people and how their cultures were slowly changing due to modern practices like say headhunting and being restricted with their movements from being in isolated areas. The suggestion to explore the museum was start on the first floor, go to the third and then the second floor. An interesting way to see the museum. It soon came to the time where we had to leave for the room we are in as there were other things that needed to be done like washing that is part of any tip away. We were able to get straight in to do a load before anyone else could take them over.

 

Singapore Sling Tour: Day 4 Slinging Singapore slings

By the numbers

1 Singapore Sling

1 Million Dollar Cocktail

9.97 kms

12,826 steps

The day started with us eating some really nice pastries that we had been given the day before. The plan was to have a nice lunch at a Peranakan restaurant and then off to Raffles later in the afternoon with two stops in between at a toy museum and a building with a garden on several floors. That was the plan anyway. We headed off towards the train station where we found a coffee shop to have a drink before meeting up with Dawn who was going to give us a tour. We headed to Raffles City, where we would walk past buildings like the Capitol Kempinski Hotel that is a grand old building compared to everything else.  We walked around to where the Peranakan museum is, and the same area that seemed to have been the first botanic gardens in Singapore at the base of Fort Canning. We were heading for a restaurant basically next door called True Blue, which was a Peranakan restaurant that served authentic foods.

Once we were able to enter the building after looking around a little bit outside, we were shown out seats, and were given some sweet tea known as Longan and red date tea, which has no caffeine. Chicken with black nuts I think it was and you had the sauce that you put on the rice while scooping out the contents of the nuts. All I can say was that it was very interesting even though we had several other dishes including an omelette. They even included dessert. I was pretty full, but mum did try a Durian mousse type dessert, although Dawn ate the rest of it. We had a look around at everything in the building as we were stunned by the displays including the wooden cabinets with their designs. All throughout the meal, the servers kept pouring the tea to top the cups up. You know what? At no stage did we feel like our bladders were going to burst. The food was also made to make sure it wasn’t too overwhelmingly spicy.

 

When it was time to leave, and we could have always been rolled out the door if we stayed longer. The thought for us to walk to our next destination was dashed as it was pretty humid and thought best we didn’t attempt it. Along the way we had a look at the Armenian church with its little cemetery. Nearby was a Children’s museum and the Singapore National Archives building. We kept being proven that it was so easy to catch a grabcar within minutes of being ordered. Something that was surprising. The next destination was the Capitaspring building. We arrived early and asked about entry to the floors for entry to the gardens. Turns out in the fine print of the website, you had to spend $10 each at one of the linked restaurants / cafes so you get a speedy entry. We got some drinks and would soon be on our way up to the 51^st floor. I thought it best to start there and then work our way down. The view from the top was spectacular and I could see out to the ocean. The plants had names and their used, although the signs were spread out. There was plenty to see and something different on each side of the building as you went up. When we made our way by lift to floor 21 and work out way down to floor 18 or 17, I found that it was a good ideas as we were doing down steps and not up. The gardens were not as good as the ones on the roof, but it was worth going to see. The museum we were going to visit, would be left for another time.

 

Another grabcar later, we were dropped off at Raffles Hotel. We were here for a Singapore Sling and we took a wander around the grounds, although we were supervised in the lobby to take a quick series of photos before being ushered out. The doorman was an Indian bloke dressed in finery and up for any task. We made our way towards the Long Bar via everything to the side including several shops. Security reacted when I looked at jewellery. They literally were alert when I approached the window. The line up at the Long Bar was actually long. We ended up at the other end in the Writers Bar as that was where our booking was. The bartenders gave us customer service out of this world and even included a little bit of philosophy along the way and a sense of good humour. We ended up with a Singapore Sling and a Million Dollar Cocktail, Dawn had a False Dawn. I even got a little cake towards the end of the time there. Early, but it was so nice. We were even asked to come back sometime. By this time it was already evening and time to head off back to where we were staying even as I took some pictures on leaving.

 

Singapore Sling Tour: Day 3 Exploring Sentosa

By the numbers

No Monkeys

12.42 kms

16,162 steps

The day started early enough as I wanted us to be down at Sentosa island before we ran out of time to meet up with friends at the mega shopping centre of Vivocity for lunch, which would be awesome. At the time I was wanting to take the train the long way round on the circle line from Bischan to Harbourfront station on the MRT, but it was kind of lucky I instead went the other way to the downtown line via Dohby Ghaut. We seemed to have left at the wrong time of the morning as it was like the morning commute became really crowded even when we went through the rush at Dohby to change trains. We had to stand, but everyone got off at Harbourfront. We could have caught the monorail into Sentosa from Vivocity, but I thought it would be more fun to get the cable car over there even if we had to catch two since both went in different directions.

 

We were wondering where it was at first and followed the signs. We had to hit the lift button in one of the buildings so we could take a ride up to whatever floor the cable car was. The theme for the car was Hello Kitty due to it being 50 years. We had two directions we could have taken and that was either up to the mountain or onto the island. We would have to go over the Universal studios resort on out way past and see the ships off the coast. At the same time you could see the roped off areas from the recent oil spill and several small vessels hanging around. Once we got off, we had to walk over to the next cable car that went to Siloso beach. There was a reason why we ended up here as we were visiting the most preserved fortification in Singapore. The Fortress was Fort Siloso, part of the fall of Singapore in World War 2. We could walk around the area on several different paths. The first one we would take was the skywalk and that would give us a great view of the area with information panels about various landmarks in the area like the islands and even the offshore waste facility. That I didn’t know they had. It did seem pretty quest even though it was nearing 10am. The stories spoke of the beginning of fort Siloso and how there were other fortifications on Singapore. Also the myth they were positioned wrong, which the truth was more interesting. They had the wrong ammunition for land based battles as they were used primarily for naval attacks. The story went on about the fall of Singapore where the guns were either destroyed or pushed off the cliff, the people’s experiences of the war especially from the POW perspective as some were on Sentosa at the time and the aftermath of the war when Singapore ended up with its independence. You could walk around most of the area and others were getting some maintenance done to them. It was well worth the visit so I was happy for that.

 

After we walked out of the Fort area that was next door to an upmarket luxuary resort, we had photos taken at the sign for Siloso, although very few people were on the beach even though you were not allowed to swim. We did notice by this time of day nearing lunch time that there were plenty of people arriving for the touristy parts of the area. It was also getting to become the hottest part of the day and we were heading off the island. Before we left, we did part of the Imbiah walking trail right next to the skyrail. We still didn’t see any monkeys as there could have been some at the fort. I think it was lucky we had taken the skyrail as we saved alot of walking. We caught the gondolas back to the other side, where we went into what we thought was Vivocity. I looked at the map and found we were at a smaller shopping centre next door called Harbourside. We decided to walk next door and then went up to the Sentosa express monorail was located as we were meeting up with Dawn for lunch nearby. It was actually good to sit for a little bit and then we were off to have lunch in a robot restaurant. Though first we ended up getting our glasses washed.

 

Lunch was at a Japanese robot restaurant where robots delivered your food to the table and you ordered through their website on your phone. It was pretty different and the food did arrive and stopped next to you so that you could take it out. Dawn’s sister arrived and we were chatting over the food and not long after we were going to visit a dog friendly pet shop. I had a quick look at the local library and you could only really enter with a library card. The petshop had plenty of pet products inside, even more than I had seen before, although I don’t usually visit petshops. We all parted ways to have a wander and I did find some shops that were interesting including a blind box where you could end up with one of half a dozen figurines, but you don’t know which. As time went on, Dawn also had to leave. Though we both wandered on a random path towards the MRT station, we soon found the two shopping centres Vivocity and Harbourside were connected. I somehow ended up with new socks from a sock shop as I thought the deals were really good. This time the ride home on the MRT took us the long way round on the circle line where we changed at Bishan. Then we ended up at the home station of Novena where we walked back to the hotel. Turns out a bus load were waiting to checkin and the lobby area was getting rather crowded.