Part Nine: Today was the latest we have slept the whole trip so far (7:00 AM), which was a nice change of pace. We did not have any concrete plans, but we knew we wanted to go around and see as much as we could. We decided we were going to walk around to different areas, stop at the Jewish Center for lunch, see some more places and take a cab back at the end of the day. And that is what we did.
Our Route: The walk from the Grand Hyatt to Little India was around thirty minutes and not the most scenic walk. There was a point where we had to carry the stroller up a big flight of stair to cross a busy intersection with no crosswalk. Other than that one point, having the stroller was no issue at all, and was a nice addition to put our bags on and not have to carry anything. Little India was a few blocks of shops and stores and lots of people trying to sell you henna tattoos. We spent around twenty minutes walking around and then headed to our next stop.
Bracelets:Singapore Signage:Aladdin Shoes: From Little India we headed over to Bugis Junction. Bugis Junction is a shopping area (one of many in Singapore) with indoor and some outdoors shops. There were also some market type shops outside which we spent some time walking around. While nothing much to do other than shopping, we found it a nice relief to get some AC during our walk.
More Singapore Signage:Bugis Marketish Area:Indoor Bugis Junction: From the shopping area we walked over to the Jewish Center for Lunch. We had to show our passports to get past the metal barricade, and then waited for them to vet us before getting our visitor stickers. Once inside, we went upstairs to the restaurant and were the first ones seated for lunch. While we were first to be seated, we were probably the only ones who ate there for lunch as well. We ordered some spring rolls and hummus, pita and falafel balls for appetizers, and had schnitzel sandwich and some kind of local pasta and meat dish for the mains. Considering this was our first freshly prepared meal in over a week, we were very much looking forward to this meal. The food was nothing special, but being able to have anything in a foreign country is more than one can ask for, and I am just happy it is an option. While at the center, we made reservations for the Shabbat meals and checked out their little store. Lunch came out to ~$38 SGD, which was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
Jewish Center:Our First Real Food: From lunch we were headed over to the Singapore Flyer where we had purchased tickets online at the hotel before we left. It had just finished raining (or so we thought) as we left and were enjoying the cooled down temperatures on the walk. About five minutes into the walk, it started raining really hard, so we hung out by some building with other people until it calmed down. Once at the Singapore Flyer, we checked our stroller and started walking through the mini exhibits on the way to the ride. We arrived at the line to board the ride and were the only ones there, thus ensuring we had a whole cabin to ourselves for the thirty-minute journey around. While it was not the nicest day (it seems like Singapore is perpetually cloudy/smoggy/always raining look, the ride offered some great views and some nice picture opportunities. Once the ride was over, we went to get our stroller and were getting ready to head over to the Helix Bridge and the Marina Sands Bay.
Singapore Flyer:Singapore F1 Racing Starting Line:View of the Gardens from the Singapore Flyer: Just before heading out, it started pouring again, so we had to hang around the Singapore Flyer. There were some shops, but we found an exhibit on Chinese business people in Singapore, which was being shown, so we sat down and watched that. Once that show was over, we got to walk around and see some placards with information on it, fill out a survey and get some SG50 swag. By this time the rain had stopped and we were set to go.
We were going to check out the Skypark area on top of the hotel and decided to get a drink at the bar atop the hotel and not pay any fee to get up to see the view. We spent around 20 minutes taking pictures and hanging out there, then went back down to walk to the Gardens by the Bay.
View from the Singapore Flyer: As it was getting late, we just strolled through the free part of the gardens and took lots of pictures of their super trees. There were lots of nice quiet paths that we spent time circling around and finally getting our kid to take a nap. The nap was very short-lived, so we decided to head back to the hotel and get some swimming in before dinner and bed.
The hotel pool is nestled in some odd corner on some connected building and a pain to get to. The pool itself was nice and not too busy, with plenty of lounge chairs and cabanas available for use. After hanging out at the pool, it was back to the room for a shower and a steam (yes, the shower has a steam feature!), then up to the lounge for some drinks. I will now leave you all to enjoy this beer as I wind down m day and let all (or most) of yours begin.
Sorry i do not have more pictures from the end, my phone died after the Singapore Flyer.