Friday, 03/08/24

We wake today fresh and ready to explore a new place. This is our second actual day however it will be referred to as ‘Day 03’ because we crossed the International Date Line and a whole day has gone past! We go downstairs for a complimentary breakfast and find some interesting items on the breakfast bar, the most unique was “Idly” and “Sambar Dhal”, some kind of a rice bread with a very spicy sauce to pour over it. I personally liked it a lot!

After breakfast, we go upstairs to prep our cameras and grabb our umbrellas for the weather is threatening rain every day for our stay here. But being the troopers that we are, we will not let the weather forecast dampen our spirits! Pun intended. Outside the elevators we see an interesting sign! It seems there is a violation more serious than smoking in a hotel! We’re going to have to locate this fruit called Durian and find out why!

We walk a few blocks and locate the “Hop On, Hop Off” bus, which we will lovingly call the HO HO Bus from now on. Everywhere we see things that remind us it is ‘The Year of the Dragon’! We have a touch of a problem with finding the correct bar code for the driver to scan but he lets us ride the bus to the main terminal where we get the issue fixed and we get back on the bus and ride the ‘Yellow’ line around the city.

Our cameras are in their element again and start happily snapping away. We are in the open top level of the bus and the weather is being cooperative. Although it wasn’t until after we sit down that we realize some of the seats were wet! Oh well, it is 90 degrees and 85% humidity so the wet seats are not all that uncomfortable in comparison!

We get to see the famous Marina Bay Hotel and the Tree Garden from the bus along with many other architectural wonders that Singapore has to offer. After riding the yellow loop, we get off and find a restaurant to have a bite to eat and a cold refreshing beverage. It even offers one IPA beer that is difficult to find outside the USA or Australia!

We walk around a while and try to locate a company that sold us eSims for our phones prior to ever starting this trip. We have their address and their office appears to be in the upstairs of a shopping mall here in Singapore. We use GPS to navigate to their address and it leads us into the mall. We happen across some interesting sights in the mall where some kind of dragon festival is happening and the displays are all made of balloons! Back outside we spot a ‘DuckBus’ (amphibious vehicle) which was made famous in Boston and we have occasionally seen a couple times around the world!

We never do locate the company, even with the aid of a security guard in the mall. It turns out the address is just a shared address for mail purposes. So we get back on the bus to ride the ‘Red’ line. But Elee has spotted an interesting temple to check out at stop number 2 and we get off to check it out. As we approach it, it starts to rain. But we have armed ourselves with umbrellas and we pull them out.

We get photos of the temple and then check our GPS maps. It is almost equidistant to the next bus stop or our hotel. It has been a good day so far so we opt to hike it back to our hotel as more photos from the open top levels of the busses is not a welcome thought in the rain.

Back at the hotel, we shed our wet things and take a welcome nap as we contemplate what we will do for dinner. After a much needed rest, we head out in search of a local restaurant. One criteria, they must serve wine. By the glass. We find the “Restaurant Row” only a few blocks from the hotel. We actually stumble across a Michelin Restaurant, Poutin, and they tell us they have one table left for 2. There will be a 15 minute wait. No problem. While we wait, we browse the menu. Wait, appetizers are starting at $20. Entrees start at $40. Still not horrible. Then we get to the wine list. Only by the bottle starting at $75. Okay, but wait. Elee drinks white and I drink red. Adding $150 in wine to the meal does us in. We try to slip out the door before being seated and they coerce us back in. We finally tell them it is not what we are looking for. We have only started this trip and $300 for dinner will set the wrong precedent!

So back out on the street, we browse 10-15 more restaurants and only find a couple with wine. Only by the bottle. Finally we find “Tyrewhitt” and get glasses of wine and a sample platter of bar food. We feel like we have completed our typical Friday night Happy Hour Date Night!

So a fun day and evening and we are tired. Back in the hotel, we check our pedometers and find we have walked over 12,000 steps today. Going to turn in and set back out tomorrow! All in all, Singapore is living up to its reputation for being an exciting city!

Goodnight!