Saturday 06/24/12
Good Day Loves!!!
Today was a long day. We arrived in Singapore at 7:45am and didn’t depart until 7:00pm. As soon as we had our first group meeting, I could already tell I will not care for group outings without a CLEAR DIRECTION from the leader(s). We took a minute to take pics with the flight crew, introduced ourselves to each other, and freshin’ up in the bathrooms before heading out into the city. Singapore Airlines was so wonderful they gave us all socks, toothbrushes, and toothpaste during the flight since they knew our breath wouldn’t be pleasant after our in-flight slumbers.
Fresh off the plane:
After much deliberation (and I do mean much), we decided on a route to take to explore Singapore. We caught the metro and switched trams from the airport to city hall. The country was beautiful and super clean! The building colors, layout designs, and plant protection created a unified harmony in the country. It was really nice to look at while riding the metro. Somewhere during the transition we decided to visit Little China. We were lost walking through the city (with maps) just admiring the scenery and people watching until after about 6 hours we finally made it. (by the way it is not that bad).
We made it:
On our way to Little China we saw the Marina Bay Sands which has a sky garden on top of the building with over 200 trees and has the longest outdoor swimming pool in the world (known as the endless pool). We didn’t go in the building but we saw it on our way to explore the Raffles Hotel, which was interesting as well.
Little China was interesting. Men were playing Mahjong, instruments, and there were markets everywhere. While we walked through Little China we tried the local delicacy native to this region: Durian fruit. Durian is a super smelly fruit the locals love. Rumour has it Penang, Malaysia has the best tasting durian on the planet. (People fly in just to eat it during durian season). I bought a durian pancake and shared it with everybody. Maybe I sort of cheated by buying the pancake instead of the actual fruit because the fruit is supposed to be soft and mushy. The fruit in the pancake was actually frozen(?), well it was most definitely refrigerated so it had some firmness to it. Below is a tv show clip of durian I watched years ago followed by our reactions of the tasting that I recorded.
Enjoyable part of the day:
If you ever watched Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmerman on the travel channel. I remember watching this particular tv show and cringing at the things this guy was eating. This end clip of the Bizarre Foods in Asia actually focuses on Penang, Malaysia (where I am headed). This will give you a heads up to what I am about to chow down as well.
After the durian fun, we finally ran into the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (http://www.btrts.org.sg/) which was absolutely beautifully adorned. I saw a bunch of artifacts, paintings, statues, monks, meditation rooms, and a whole lot of other things that you just have to see. BUT I did record a few videos for your viewing pleasure. \( ^_^)/
After we left the temple we searched the city for a bar so we could order a Singapore Sling. Well 95% of the bars, restaurants, and or stores were closed and all opened for the night-life. We headed back to the airport since we were unsuccessful and tired. A few of us actually got a Singapore sling in the airport (which was super expensive) and a few ordered on the plane (which was super cheap and made with Singapore cabin crew expertise!). I will get one on the flight back to the U.S. as a celebratory drink for experiencing Southeast Asia and surviving all the disorganization that comes with group trips organized for the first time.
Exciting Adventures Around Every Corner!!
Krystal