24 RTW Day 05

By travelerdon on May 18, 2024

Singapore 3/10/24 Sunday

Okay, so today’s breakfast stars were a ‘Purple Bao’ called “Yam Bun” and “Pongal with Sambar Dhal” sauce. Incredible! Tummies full, we head out leisurely to the bus stop. We’re told there’s no threat of rain so we don’t bring umbrellas.

We get to a bus stop that I have been looking at for the past couple days at a small park across the bay from the Marina Bay Sands Hotel for a new view of the area. As I am taking some shots the clouds open up. So much for no threat of rain! But we make it back to the bus stop shelter roof and wait out the small squall. I do have an emergency one use poncho in my back pocket and so does Elee. We don’t open them yet.

The rain abates after 10-15 minutes and we decide to walk to a spot that Elee has been wanting to visit. “Merlion Park”. It is a sculpture of a half lion, half mermaid, spouting water into the Bay. Some fun photos and we walk on, in search of the Yellow Line Bus to go find lunch and we are searching for a specific meal.

We board the bus and ride a couple stops and get off at ‘Clarke Quay’ (pronounced ‘key’). Walking through the maze of restaurants, many shopkeepers attempt to seduce us into their establishments but we tell them what we are looking for. “Oh, go down the way and cross the bridge! Look for ‘Jumbo Seafood’!”

We follow instructions and come across the restaurant that sells the meal we are looking for. We are seated and served beer and wine and a rice dish. Finally, the dish we searched for arrives at our table, “Chili Crab”! It is not only everything we thought it would be, it is likely the most expensive single menu item we have ever purchased! $100 Singapore dollars ($75 US). Maybe rivaled by some dry aged beef steaks long ago. The Crab is about 2-3 pounds and is cooked in a chili sauce that is spicy, but not light your mouth on fire spicy! We finish every last drop! We held out from that $300 meal and this one wasn’t as bad, LOL The meal with wine was under $200! Sorry I have no photos of the meal!

While we dine, the heavens open up again and rain as fiercely as we have ever seen! Relentless such that we contemplate getting a taxi instead of walking back to the bus. we stall our meal and drinks to try to wait out the squall. Sure enough, it is just a squall, fierce as it is. We leave the restaurant to the rain having stopped.

We walk back to the bus stop and board the bus with no issues. A couple miles into the trip finds us scrambling to go to the front of the bus (where the cover is) as the rain comes down again. We arrive back at the main bus hub and the rain stops. We now switch from the Yellow Line to the Red Line for the trip to our hotel, or at least a half mile from our hotel.

Fingers crossed, the rain holds off for our 15-20 minute walk back to the hotel. We lay down for a nap and to rest our legs. A few hours later, we walk down the street and find an authentic Chinese Restaurant and have some delicious Noodle Dishes! And I have a “Tiger” beer, made here in Singapore. I’d prefer an IPA, but those are not as common. And I have to say that it is very good for a Pilsner!

Back to the hotel for the night. The last two days I have far exceeded my walking goal of 10,000 steps per day. Today I miss the goal by 700 steps. Oh well, my legs need a rest! Tomorrow we will board our ship for the next part of the adventure!

Goodnight everyone!