(To keep you all interested I will attempt to post as we go similar to how i was before the the cruise, i will also post some of the cruise stuff retroactively Ive got about 5 more posts stacked up that need minor editing, and another 5 posts that need to be written, so keep checking in)
20122016
Last wake up on the cruise, everything was alive as the vast majority of the passengers were getting off the ship and everything needed to get cleaned and turned over.
We chesed down our cabin stewards to give them a tip. As i stated yesterday we elected to drastically diminish the pre-determined automatic tip and tip our service directly.
After finding our towel-animal-making-duo and slipping them the tip, we went back to the cabin to wait out some of the madness. We certainly didnt want to add ourselves to the nonesense of the people trying to get off.
When our disembark time was called we exited the boat, and waited in the immigration lines in Singapore. The port immigration office was quick enough considering both our boat and another was disgorging its tourists.
We then found our way to the subway to get over to our hotel. Of course it was only 1030, so the room wasnt ready, we handed our bags over and hopped on the wifi in the lobby.
Both of us binged on some internet.
We then left to meet our new friends from the ship, the Australian couple of couples, Chris and Lisa, Henry and Heather, and an American couple Maurine and Patrick. We had agreed to meet at the Chinatown subway stop exit A. Laura and i arrived first, then stumbled into Maurine and Patrick showed up, and just as we started to worry about the Aussies (or ozzies as it sounds when they say it), the popped out of the subway exit.
the 8 of us wandered only a few feet before stopped for some food. We settled on an Asian seafood restaurant, ordered some beers, and some food, Laura and i got Chicken Satay and the stir fried green beans we had had elsewhere in Asia, the rest got various bits of their own preference, that i dont particularly remember. All of it was tasty, it was a little pricey, with our 2 beers and plates coming to 41SGD.
We then wandered around Chinatown, shopping a little bit, mostly the other couples were doing the shopping, Laura and I have pretty much covered all of our bases when it comes to purchases over here, but the people watching is always prime.
After a bit of shopping we stopped for coffee, at an italian coffee shop, luckily Lisa speaks Italian fluently, which helped with the service. The group elected to go check out the domed gardens, the Gardens By the Bay here in Singapore ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay ). This required a subway ride, and incedently took us to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
This is the iconic hotel in Singapore that everyone sees in the pictures, the one with the island on top of the building with an infinity pool that looks over the bay.
Apologies for the not great pics, google it for professional picture.
We wandered through the parks making our way to the actual domes.
these domes were pretty spectacular. While they kick the shit out of the Mitchell Park Domes that i grew up with ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Park_Horticultural_Conservatory ), they make me appreciate the Mitchell Domes, and the fact that they are in Milwaukee, they arent in Chicago, or New York, more commonly thought of as world-class cities, they are in Milwaukee.
Anyways, they were beautiful. The first one is a cloud forest horticultural dome. It is an emulation of the ecosystem that you would find in Central America and Indonesia/Malaysia ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_forest ).
other than little plaquards about all the plants themselves there was little to appreciate other than the views, which as i said we astounding. The dome started with a large manmade waterfall, and then wound around to an elevator to take you to the top. At the top is some great views of the city around you, and then you slowly descend the "mountain" on various catwalks and gantries.
The second dome was more temperate, a mediterranean climate. it wasnt nearly as interesting as the cloud forest manmade mountain. There were the kinds of plants one would find in a mediterranean climate, which by its very nature is less colorful and less exotic to me than the mountain tropics.
We then were quite pekish, electing to hit one of the food courts "hawker confederacies" as i have come to describe them. You have heard me earlier describe the idea that mall foodcourts are not to be scoffed at on this side of the Pacific, Singaporean foodcourts are a step above that.
We went back to the Marina Sands Hotel and Entertainment complex, for their basement foodcourt. This place was great, most of the countries on this side of the Pacific were represented at least partially in this food court, to name a few; Hong Kong Dim Sum, Thai fried rices, Japanse Noodles of various types, Indonesean, Singaporean, Hotpot, and korean wings. Between Laura and i we had three plates, some Singapore wings, i had a plate of Singapore noodles, and (im learning this right now) Laura also had a different styled plate of Singapore noodles.
After everyone ate their food, we resolved to meet up the next day at the zoo for another venture through Singapore.
We all broke for our specific homes, when Laura and i got back to our hotel, I updated the blog some, and we researched the zoo. Turns out its a little pricey, and really far away. We decided to sleep in, and bailed on the zoo, shooting them emails with this info and headed to bed.
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