Arriving on the train
Monty our new friend
Some of the first city sights of Singapore
We took a stroll up the river passing through Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay en route to visit the relations!! We had lots of fun in their fabulous pool & enjoyed the city view from their 41st floor roof terrace!
Wee Archie sporting his Tuk Tuk T-Shirt we brought him from Bangkok!
City views from the 41st floor!
The remnants of a Chinese New Year Party
The Merlion is a mixture of a lions head with the tail of a mermaid. Singaporeans believe it is their guardian of the island. There are many of these Merlions situated throughout Singapore in different sizes and colours.
This is the view of the two enormous greenhouses and equally enormous decorative trees from across the river. One of the greenhouses is called 'The Cloud' which houses the worlds tallest indoor waterfall, it has a raised walkway that meanders you to the top for epic views of the waterfall along with the rainforest type vegetation and flowers. It mists the greenery every half hour which is a rather spectacular sight. You really feel like you are in a rainforest, thankfully minus all the creepy crawlies! The second one named 'The Flower Dome' houses hundreds of different trees and flowers from all over the world. They provide a spectacular sight and numerous smells as you make your way through the pathways. Both are worth a visit which is lucky because as a tourist you can only buy a ticket for both!!
The trees you can see to the right tower above you and are truly a spectacular sight, but they really come alive in the evening with a spectacular music and lights show. Find a spot on the ground under them, lie back & enjoy. You really feel like you have teleported into the movie Avatar! To top it all off the night time spectacular is free! They also double up as funnels collecting rain for recycling. They are surrounded by a large pond and beautiful gardens with bridges, sculptures, fountains and water features as well as a great kids play park complete with a soak zone of fountains and sprinklers which also lights up as dusk sets in.
Just past the greenhouses there is 'Satay by the Bay', here you will find a number of food vendors with an abundance of them selling Satay of chicken, beef or pork! Josh loved eating here as it was tasty, you didn't need to use cutlery & we had to sit on tiny seats at tiny tables!
If you keep walking up the river you will come to the Pump House, used as a flood prevention system. As you follow the path leading upwards you come to a grassy hill overlooking The Bay and out to sea, on top of this hill appears to be where Singaporeans go to fly kits! It was a spectacular sight with kites of all shapes & sizes flying high, you do need to be very carefu where you are walking though as you could easily get tangled in someone's kite string!! The Bay is a great area of Singapore to spend a couple of days exploring.
The Cloud
They even had special Lego flowers growing!!!
Misting time!
The Flower Dome
Chinese New Year in full swing here!
Complete with dragon sculpture!!
The trees!!!!!
The gardens and park.
Singapore is super clean and tidy. You will not find chewing gum on the ground or anywhere else as it is band, and what a difference this makes. (They are very strict about this) People are friendly and helpful and there is plenty to keep you busy whether it is a stroll through the city to admire the impressive Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the super size viewing wheel, the Lotus Flower shaped science centre, the Bay, the Gardens by the Bay, the Cloud Dome, The flower Dome or if you are looking for some thrills on Sentosa Island you are sure to fill a few days.
Be sure to pack a rain mack or a heavy duty umbrella because when it rains it pours, they have installed drains that resemble small rivers when it comes down. It is usually short lived but if you have no protection or shelter you will feel like you have been on Splash Mountain within seconds! We had a great few days here and would love to go back one day.
