Final Day in Singapore

I'm en route to Singapore's airport... Just took one more photo while waiting on a taxi.

Had a lovely day with Laura and Christoff at the Infinity Pool and got back to Laura's in time to shower & pack before jumping in the taxi. 

Goodbye Laura, Christoff, Ashley, Michelle and Mai - it's been awesome to spend time with all of you!

Goodbye vacation, rainbow bridge and beautiful weather - to the cold, snow, ice, work and real life, I must return.

Until next time...

Marina Bay Sands

I keep wanting to call it Malibu Sands - the beach club where the Saved By the Bell kids worked one summer... But rather its' a posh hotel in Singapore! We booked a room for our last night in town. We wanted a treat - use of the infinity pool & a nice dinner, so worth it!

Amazing to swim in a pool that looks like it continues forever to the horizon and when you do realize it ends - it ends an awesome view of Singapore's skyline!!

We had brunch, packed a bag and checked in - we're on the 18th floor (not that impressive, as the hotel is 57 stories). The room is lovely & overlooks the Garden full of Super Trees. They're giant tree sculptures that light up & play music. Quite the spectical. Laura and I sat inside one of the trees after dinner.

Dinner was at Ku De Ta - a restaurant on the 57th floor with extraordinary food and gorgeous views. We each chose and all and a main & shared family style. Delicious!

The infinity pool was certainly a highlight of the trip - looking forward to spending more time there tomorrow before I fly out! 

Indonesia, Crabs and Slings

Shawn & boarded an early ferry over to Batam, Indonesa. We had a spa day! Massages, facials, mud wrap, (my muddy arm and leg, pictured below), lunch, and more treatments throughout the afternoon.

After going through immigration for the 8th time in 2 days, we went home and got changed for dinner. Met Laura, Christoff and Ashley for some Black Pepper Sri Lankan crabs quite delicious and many other dishes to share family style.

Then off to Raffles Hotel, the home of the original Singapore Sling (gin based fruit cocktail). This post isn't written well, or very detailed... I am exhausted. I'll fix it when I wake up.

Malaysia Day Trip & An Amazing Rooftop Bar

Shawn and I boarded the bus out of Singapore into Malaysia... we cleared immigration 4 times today! Once in the departure hall when arriving on the bus from Singapore - once at the arrival hall Malaysia. Then the opposite on the way back - each time getting off the bus and catching it (or another one) when the immigrating was complete. Fascinating process... no pictures allowed in the government buildings - so you'll have to take my word for it.

We had 3 goals in Malaysia, 1) Eat something awesome, 2) buy some stuff, 3) have our nails done.

Missions accomplished! We ate some great stuff and spent a whole $7.50 on everything. I ordered fries because I always find it interesting to see how different things are served across different countries. Shawn had stolen some ketchup for such an occasion! We also had a noodle dish with seafood, spring rolls, pineapple fried rice, the fries (which come with chili sauce), and 2 drinks.

Shawn did plenty of shopping - some souvenirs, some stuff for himself, I enjoyed the experience but only got a few things, myself.

We also hit a nail salon, a bit of R&R and new polish makes such a diference.

This evening, we met back up with Laura and had a great night out on the Rooftop of the Esplanade complex. Laura likened it to Singapore's version of Lincoln Center back home. It was lovely to walk through, some concerts in progress and some terrific views.

Universal Studios Singapore

I woke up and had a few hours to play with Mai - Christoff's baby! She is incredibly precious!! More photos another time... I didn't start taking photos for a while, I was so wrapped up in playing with her.

Post-baby time, Shawn and I headed back to Sentosa this morning - we discussed doing all sorts of things... a multi-day pass, a multi-attraction pass... 2 for 1 specials, blah blah - you all know how I love a coupon! 

We finally settled on Universal Studios Singapore. Of course, it was decked out for Chinese New Year - even the minions got to celebrate! There weren't many people in the park - we got to ride first car on many of the rides, through the lines so quickly. 

On the Mummy Ride, there were a set of siblings running ahead of us, but occasionally turning back. I started out annoyed thinking, man, whose kids are these?? But ended up asking the little girl if she was okay & asking where her parents were... she said they were outside, they didn't want to ride the ride so she was meant to join her brother. She was so scared because the cave like walls didn't provide much light or direction. I asked if she wanted to walk with us - she shouted "yes!" and immediately grabbed my hand to walk along side. She was a precious little thing, I told Shawn we adopted some children and they joined us on the ride, too. I wish now that I had broken my rule against souvenir photos, because the photo of our car was priceless... I was looking bug-eyed and scared, she was gripping my hand with all of her might with her head buried into my arm and her brother was doing the same on her other side... Shawn was fixing his watch as though nothing was happening (he'd ridden the ride before in Florida - cheater).  [You're right, SB, my life is like an odd SitCom - the strangest things happen to me!]

We enjoyed Universal - the decorations, rides and shows, and photographing the characters, especially Shawn!! He was sad the BattleStar Galactica Coaster was closed, but wanted to take a photo as a Cylon, anyway. We also passed by the TRex in Jurassic Park, I told Shawn "go stick your head in its mouth" - you see what I get for calling him a butthead!! :) 

When we were finished in the park, we saw another Merlion, borrowed some wifi from Starbucks to formulate a plan and headed back to Chinatown. This time just for dinner (a cute Caribbean spot - had lovely fish) and dessert (at a traditional dessert place). We had terrific shaved ice - mine was like halo halo, minus the flan, ube and condensed milk. Delish!

 

Sentosa Island

Off the southern most tip of Singapore, there is a man-made Island - Sentosa. Shawn and I cabbed over with Christoff who showed us a beach club, where we had a lovely brunch and giggled about how romantic the setting would be had it not been for the trade ships in the background... Oil barges, just like the "party boats" off of the SB Coastline (right, UCSB roommies?!)  ;)

We also checked out the S.E.A. Aquarium... saw amazing things that we'd not seen before: 1) A shark embryo, best viewed as a video, 2) a dragon dance inside the tank with the sealife, 3) several species of sealife that I'd not seen in my 30+ years of aquariuming.

We wandered the island, not for sake of wandering, but to find our way back home - we came upon some great things which will likely inspire another visit to Sentosa - if not more than one! Another Merlion (in addition to the one I posted the other day) who can go wrong with a giant statue of a half lion half mermaid - or is it merperson, or maybe merman - since I called it "him"? This one didn't shoot water out of his mouth, but mostly because you can climb inside him and use his mouth as the lookout tower.

This evening we went back to Chinatown for foot rubs and ended up getting a package - neck/shoulder/back massage, foot scrub, foot massage. Then on to the Old Airport Road Hawker Center (read: giant food court) and experienced the myriad cuisines offered by the stalls... too much food, still full so many hours later! Good news is, back to feeling normal and enjoying the trip!!

Rainy Sick Day

I stayed in bed most of the day. It was pretty miserable... still not feeling well, though I rallied late in the afternoon. 

Shawn went to the zoo without me - sad to have missed it, but happy to have had all of the sleep.

This afternoon was monsooning - crazy rain! I took a few photos out of Laura's window. 

I'm now at Christoff's he gave me some lovely chicken soup. I barely got to spend time with the baby - she was just getting up from a nap and ready for a bath when I arrived... Photos tomorrow.

Getting in bed again, now - Hopefully tomorrow will be better!