Around 8.30am we got up and readied ourselves to go into breakfast. We ate the buffet slowly. It was a mixture of half Asian and half Western which suited up just fine. We both went to the Omelette station and had a Ham & Cheese one made.
Our plan today was to head to the Gardens by the Bay. I had planned for us to get the Metro there and then walk back, but the forecast showed showers in the afternoon so I reversed that plan. That was a mistake. It was a hot humid day and I had underestimated the distance to get there. By the time we had got just past Raffles we were both in need of a second drink stop and we were probably only about half way. We went in one of the many shopping malls that were everywhere and conveniently found a Starbucks. Disappointingly they also do not understand how to make tea and my came with far too much hot milk already in the cup. But it was much needed and so I suffered in silence.
From here we headed to the Helix Bridge and then wandered across to yet another shopping mall where we bought some more cold drinks. That was the third drink stop and we weren’t actually at the Gardens by the Bay yet, although we could now see them relatively close by if we could only work out how to cross the two dual carriageways in the way. Eventually we found the underpass and made our way first of all to the ticketing centre.
They could have made the ticketing options more complicated but that would have taken a lot of effort. We wanted to walk along the SuperTree Grove aerial walkway first of all and bizarrely you could not buy the ticket to do that at the ticketing centre. Once we had it all explained to us several times we went to the Supergrove itself , bought tickets and took the lift up. The Supergrove is quite unique, consisting of huge man made metal tree like objects covered in plants many of the air plant type. It was also rather amazing by day and we were excited to see them all lit up at night, if we could stay awake that long. The walkway was impressive and we spent about 15 minutes to complete it.
As we took the lift down, Karen started to suffer some pains in her stomach and thought she needed another drink to try and settle it. There was a food court near the Supergrove. As it was lunchtime I was feeling hungry so I decided to get some food whilst Karen just settled for coffee. All of the food options were different type of Asian food apart from one called Texas Chicken which was a KFC type of place. I went for a combo meal and it was surprisingly good. Although it was the same as when I have a KFC at home. I really fancy it, and enjoy eating it but then 5 minutes I regret it as it sits hard in my stomach.
With a full tummy and feeling quite relaxed as Karen sipped her coffee I fell asleep in the cafe. Karen had to wake me as I was completely out of it. I hate jet lag with a vengeance. It messes me up big time and I feel like I am in a complete fog. The old adage of it taking a day for each timezone crossed always seems to hold true for me. In this case I have another 6 days of this and tomorrow we cross another 5 timezones – what joy. I will be just back to normal by the time we start the journey home.
It was then time to buy tickets to firstly explore the flower dome. It was an big glasshouse set on a number of levels and divided into different regions like Australian and African. It was very well done and interesting. The best part though was that they still had the Christmas exhibition on and that was amazing. It was based on real buildings in Norway and Finland. They were just about to start dismantling it, so we were very lucky. Then we went into the Cloud Dome. We were not sure what to expect but were greeted by six 30m waterfalls which was a surprise. A lift then took us to the very top of the dome and we followed a walkway down. It was misting time as we walked around. The concept is that you are walking down from the cloud level and it shows all the plants that thrive in that type of environment. We really liked this experience and it was very imaginatively put together. Whilst we were in the dome, the heavens outside opened and it was quite surreal being inside a Cloud environment whilst the rain poured off the glass panels of the dome on the outside.
By now we were in need of more nourishment and found another cafe in the gardens. Karen’s stomach was now behaving itself so she had some blueberry pancakes whilst I had a Fillet of Fish from a MacDonalds next door. We sat there for about 90 minutes waiting for it to get dark as we wanted to see the light show. We knew if we had gone back to the Hotel that we would have just fallen asleep and not have managed to go out again.
The wait was so worth it. There was a good crowd gathered for the Gardens of Rhapsody light show. It was magical and very cleverly set to music. It lasted around 10 minutes and will probably be one of the highlights of the whole trip.
We decided to take the Metro back to the Hotel and walked to the station which was beneath the Marina Sands Hotel. As you would expect for Singapore, the metro was quick, cheap, clean and very efficient.
Back in the room after failing to complete check in for our flights tomorrow either online or by phone I decided to revert this Blog back to the old format as a means of being to update it. I cannot say I am happy with Wix who host it as they were the ones insisting I convert to their new Blog software, yet it doesn’t work and their support was slow and unhelpful. Thats another job that needs sorting to add to the list when I get home.
Singapore is a fine place and we have really enjoyed our time here so far. Its just a long way from home and so very hot and humid. As we were getting ready for bed I realised that I was getting apprehensive again for our flights tomorrow onto New Zealand.
The flight itself doesn’t bother me I think it just that the fact it is taking us further away from home. Well at least I think that is the problem. The trouble is that it is very hard to self diagnose. Much of my career was built upon mentoring and counselling of others, yet it is hard to hold a mirror to yourself. Indeed some of the best people involved in counselling have enormous anxiety issues themselves and seem incapable of applying any of their skills onto themselves. When I get home I may sit down with one of them to try and understand why I am having these issues. I do know that I must not let it impact our enjoyment of this trip.
