Then and now

Excuse these long entries…all for my benefit to remember what we’ve done each day!

Had a brilliant sleep…managed to sleep through and was feeling refreshed when I finally woke. V had not had such a good night as she’d taken til 6am to get off, so we had a slow start whilst she slept a bit more and I did Duolingo and worked on photos etc.
We then had breakfast…including kaya toast which I rally like. Once again the little birds were swooping around after the trolleys which clear the tables and chirping happily to each other under clear skies. It’s set to be another scorcher although supposedly will rain later (it didn’t!).
Before we set off to explore we nipped up to the roof to see the pool and are tempted to have a swim later when we get back here (we didn’t!). Packed supplies for the day and we headed first to the Asian civilisation museum. We were sweltered by the time we got there, so it was lovely to spend an hour or so in the cool. We arrived just in time for a guided tour of the highlights and it was brilliant. We learnt a lot about a 9th century shipwreck carrying 50,000 pieces of ceramics (mainly freely and loosely decorated with swirls, flowers and geometric designs) and other treasures, all immaculately preserved, and the sailing routes and global trade that was revealed by it. So much cross-fertilisation of ideas between Middle East, India, South East Asia and China (extra, a Chinese ceramic ewer (extra) whose design was copied from a Middle Eastern metal version, right down to the rivets in the handle, but with Chinese added snake detail, new splashed decoration and a dragon head stopper. Fascinating to find out all the detail behind the trade lines and influence, including about the Europeans entering the scene trading gold and silver for spices in the 15th and 16th centuries. We also learned a lot about the traditions and rituals of Southeast Asia, including the 3 levels of existence (essentially heaven, earth and hell) and the influence of those levels on the design and decoration of traditional houses (extra) which we’ll presumably see in Borneo. Final section looking at the Mexico/Americas links especially with the Philippines and back to Spain, and the design of exquisite lace and silk mantillas.
Refreshed, we headed for another hot walk to Chinatown, where we explored first a Hindu (extra) then a Buddhist temple. The latter had a service in progress, and thousands of tiny Buddhas were displayed around the walls, and we enjoyed watching and listening to all that was going on…so atmospheric and calm.
From there we had a wander around some shops full of fans, chopsticks, tassels, lanterns and silk PJs on our way to Maxwells food market…bit of a tradition when I’m in Singapore… and we enjoyed Tian Tian Hainanese chicken rice (extra), some veg with oyster sauce, some sticks of satay chicken with, to drink, a whole fresh coconut, pineapple juice and a mango smoothie (we were very dehydrated!). All was delicious, although the prawn summer rolls were a bit disappointing as there wasn’t much fresh veg inside. Overall, a great lunch and very tasty, and then we looked at all the other stalls and I teased V with suggestions of pig intestine soup, chicken feet and trotters with noodles!
Back out into the heat and humidity (both of us had turned into frizzy scarecrows by now, and wearing a hat disguised the awful hair but then made us look even worse when we took them off!
We browsed the markets a bit more, and discovered the durian stall from some distance away when the drains smell got unbearable…..cannot appreciate the appeal! We did buy some sweets with durian in though to take home for the kids to give them a shock/giggle! We walked over (fading in the heat) to the Marina Bay Sands hotel and decided to brave my fear of heights and go up to the cocktail bar on the boat shape top. 57 floors up on an express lift. Eek… it was so high! I clung to a table not too close to the edge whilst V walked around and took photos of the amazing views (extra), then we enjoyed a Singapore sling (V) and an Aperol spritz having eventually worked out the confusing credit note system (NB Munroist this will be the way for you to get a Singapore sling…a drink is included in the cost of entry, which is the same price as the observation deck on the floor below!)
We spent an hour or so looking at the views and marvelling at the many cargo ships waiting out at sea, seeing a plane pass by seemingly below us, and gathering clouds…I guess we’d have to evacuate if there was a thunderstorm. We wondered about the health and safety checks …the patio umbrellas are surely drilled into the floor to prevent them flying away and Interestingly there were no security checks before being allowed up there. We helped groups on nearby tables take photos and did some general people watching….the bustling waiters in the pink shirts, the giggling young women with their Gucci bags, a domineering group of businessmen with their lone woman colleague, and a perfectly groomed and beautifully scented man wafting past (who later offered us his seat as we tried to find another spot to take photos from, despite us looking ever more like bag ladies in the humidity!)
We had timed things well, and managed to walk over to the gardens and look round the flower dome and the other called Cloud Mountain just before it got fully dark (extra of view from the top of the towers shows the domes from above). The main blip today is of a parade of life size bronze animals we passed by, with the rooftop bar where we’d been in the background. Amazing displays of orchids, dahlias and many other flowers in the domes, as well as the huge leaves of thousands of foliage plants, some of which we have in tiny form as indoor plants, an enormous waterfall and a section of (in our view) rather ugly but dramatic cacti and succulents. We chatted to a couple from Cumbria who were on a cruise around Thailand and Vietnam, then made our way out into the gardens in time to see the music and light show against the huge artificial trees (extra). By the time that ended we were absolutely pooped and literally dragged ourselves back across to the hotel lobby to get a taxi home…waiting for it we had to prop ourselves up against some bollards and again were only fit for people watching amongst the chaos of drop offs, valet parking and others waiting for their Grabs (local version of Uber).
We were desperate for a bit of chocolate or a biscuit but didn’t see any little shops on the way home, so were delighted to find that the little cafe in the lobby was just shutting and sold us a delicious slice of chocolate gateau and one of Basque cheesecake which we devoured upstairs, collapsed on our beds. A called and we had a good chat and catch up, then we managed to summon the energy to do our packing whilst texting back and forth with Arclight after her difficult day then crawled into bed - at last!