Singapore - Day 7: Marina Bay Sands, Art Museum, Singapore Flyer, Raffles Hotel, Tanglin

Monday, June 11th

Another busy day, but lots of fun!!  We started the day leisurely (Patrice made homemade biscuits for breakfast) which was really refreshing.  Elliott decided to join us today which was fun.  (We enjoyed getting to pick on him a bit.)

We walked down to the Marsiling MRT station, which is about a 10 minute walk from Patrice's house.  We rode the line all the way to the end which is at Marina Bay.  We spent most of the day in that area and were able to see the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

Outside the big Louis Vuitton store.

The hotel is huge, with three big towers, and literally has a big "ship" atop the towers.  It's neat, but who thought to put a ship at the top of three hotel towers? Lol.  The hotel has a mall attached to it (go figure....there are malls EVERYWHERE here) with restaurants, a cinema, a theater, and the Singapore Art and Science Museum.  The views from the hotel are gorgeous. (Even on a cloudy, overcast day like today.)

After looking around the hotel a bit, we went to the Art and Science Museum to see the new Harry Potter exhibit.  They wouldn't let us take pictures, but it was really neat!! We got to see many of the costumes from the movies plus many of the props and sets.  It was really neat to be transported back to each of the seven movies.  When you first got in, they had an exhibit with the sorting hat and let kids try it on to see what house they would end up in. Super cute!!  (It was also interesting seeing local Singaporeans speaking in Harry Potter british accents...lol!) The exhibit was really neat to see.  It made me want to have a HP marathon and watch all 8 movies!! :)  (Jenna and I joked that we flew half way across the world to see Harry Potter....but we definitely enjoyed the experience.)

The outside of the Art and Science Museum.

The flying car from the Harry Potter movies.

After the exhibit, we walked around the mall some more and stopped at a Coffee Bean for lunch.  When we got to the table, there was a little button thing where you could call for the server and for your bill.  This was a very welcomed idea.  When you dine out in Singapore it is an all evening affair.  The majority of the population lives in what are called HDB (kinda like government/low-income housing in the states.)  The living quarters are so confined that when people do dine out, it's a time for them to be out in an ope area where they can sit, relax, and socialize.  The servers at places are very slow at service because of this.  Whereas in the states the servers automatically bring you your ticket, here in Singapore you have to ask for your bill (and it usually takes about 10 minutes to find your server!!)

We got to eat around this fountain, called a Rain Oculus, and enjoyed seeing the fountain at work.  I had an interesting Singaporean version of a quiche (which was mostly onion...yuck!) and a delicious coffee (or copy..) which was much needed.  The little button machine turned out to be very useful and made the service a lot quicker than usual!!

When lunch was over, we took a cab to the Singapore flyer. The flyer is a ferris wheel looking observatory much like the London Eye (but bigger)!  While the 30-minute ride may seem like a boring time.....it was very much entertaining for us!!  (I think the change in altitude made us slightly delirious.)  We got to see mainly the Central Business district of Singapore and a few other various sights.  It was cool to see the country from that perspective.  We took lots of funny pictures and even made Elliott take some with us.  (I am sure the other two guys in the car with us thought we were crazy!!)

Elliott and Patrice.

Elliott kept leaning against the door which made Patrice nervous.

Patrice had enough so she pulled him away!!!

Lunging...again.

Cute shoes!

View of the central business district from the flyer.

View of the Art and Science Museum from the flyer.

"Family photo" on the Singapore Flyer.

Picking on the "little brother."

We left the flyer and took a cab over to the Raffles Hotel.  Stanford Raffles (or as we like to refer to him, Ramford Staffles) was a british trader who worked for the East India Trading Company and is considered to be the "father" of Singapore.  He founded the city/state/country to keep good ties with southeast Asia.  The Raffles Hotel was constructed in 1887 in honor of the country's founder. While we didn't get to go inside the hotel, we did get to walk around the premises which is very pretty.  (Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson stayed here.) We were able to go inside the hotel's museum which told more about the history of the hotel.  Did you know that the original coastline of Singapore began outside the hotel?  Sand was pumped in to add more to the island which has extended the coastline!  We also got to walk into the famous Long Bar which is the original location of the birth of the Singapore Sling drink.

Entrance to the hotel.

Public transportation is the typical mode of operation in Singapore.  We hopped on the MRT back to Chinatown to pick up a few more gifts for some of Patrice's family and friends. The day was overcast but by the time we got to Chinatown the wind had died down and the stickiness of the humidity kicked in.  (It's absolutely miserable, by the way. And I thought humidity in Houston was bad.....)

We took a cab from Chinatown to Tanglin which is an area catered to ex-Pats.  There is a mall there....go figure, again....and even a Chili's and Starbucks.  We ate dinner at the Chili's.  I had my usual salad which was good, but not as good as the one back home.  Patrice and Ernie took us to the Tanglin Market which is one of the best grocery stores to go to.  (Because it caters to the ex-Pats. Translation...American Brands.)  You would not believe the prices on these items......stuff that we think is outrageous back in the states is extremely overpriced here.  Jenna and I were so shocked that we started taking pictures of all the items.  One lady from Germany was laughing at us.  We told her we were from America and that we could get this stuff for super cheap there.  She laughed and agreed that it was picture worthy.

On the way home from Tanglin, the traffic was really bad on the BKE (due to an accident.)  I thought Houston traffic was bad and that people drive crazy there.....I was so wrong.  WARNING - never get stuck in traffic in Singapore.  People will cut you off and bump your car.  And the flying monkeys (the crazy motorcycle drivers here as we call them) have no regard for anything (not even themselves) and will squeeze through between cars to weave in and out of traffic.  Yikes!! It was nuts!!!

FLYING MONKEYS!!!!!

It's hard to believe that my trip here is coming to an end; I leave early Friday morning.  We have seen so much of the country here and I am sure that we will still not see all of it.  I am so glad that I made this trip and so glad that Patrice has been so generous in supporting us here!!

Tomorrow is a zoo day; we are having breakfast with the monkeys!!  Time to get some sleep - we have an early day in the morning!!