2006 - SINGAPORE




Following our fabulous family cruise to Koh Samui and Vietnam and new culture, scenery and food experiences, we had 4 days to check out all that Singapore has to offer.  Singapore is small, but has a lot to see and do.
We stayed at the Carlton Hotel.  The Carlton still tops the list of my favourite hotel buffet breakfasts.  Plus it is near to the famous Raffels Hotel, transport and grocery shop plus 7 Eleven for supplies including cans of beer.  It is cheaper for hubby and I to buy our snacks and beer from the 7 Eleven than the hotel. 
The kids were amazed that you can get Maccas delivery here. Maccas was just around the corner, but delivery was a novelty.





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BOAT QUAY


Wandering around the boat quay was nice.  We didn't get to go on a boat, but it was just nice walking along the boardwalk.







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MERLION

You can't miss the big Merlion on the river.  When we were there it was closed for cleaning so we had to be content with a photo in front of the little one.
The Merlion is half fish, half lion.  Singapore's original name was Singapura, or 'lion city' in Malay.


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NIGHT ZOO


One of the best things you can do in Singapore is the Night Safari Zoo.  We got the train and bus there.  They have a little train that takes you around.  
It was different hearing the various animal sounds at night.  We also got to do a jungle walk and check out the nocturnal animals.





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SENTOSA


Another must do is to catch the cable car from Mt Faber over to Sentosa Island.

Sentosa has nice gardens and interesting tiled work a bit like the Gaudi arts in Barcelona.  It also has a 360d drop ride and the usual tourist shops and attractions.

























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ORCHID GARDENS



Both Hubby and I like gardens.   We have been to some spectacular ones over the years.   Singapore Botanical Gardens is up there with the best.   The Orchid Garden in particular gorgeous.  And no wonder, the Orchid is Singapore’s national flower.














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ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURES


Like most cities Singapore is not immune from grabbing tourist attention with unusual architecture and sculptures.




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SHOPPING IN SINGAPORE


Orchid Road is the major shopping district in Singapore.   We found it easy to catch the bus opposite our hotel.   If you don't like crowds, then Orchid Road and it's many mazes and multiple levels of shops gets a bit daunting. Hubby and I could only handle a couple of hours .   Then we couldn't wait to get out of the chaos.  I liked Chinatown the best. 




We found a store after our own name.   
The Meyers sold everything from electronics to jewellery, and fairdinkum goods too!!  
Obviously we were there to support our stores  😍   Compete with tiger beers all round.  That is something we would never see in Australia!   Shopping for jewellery whilst sipping on a tiger beer supplied by the store.  😀  
 Good stuff!! 




Watch out for taxi drivers that take you to jewellery stores.   We have learnt over the years that they obviously get a cut out of what is sold.
 It is not like you are getting ripped off.   Most of these places are genuine wholesale outlet stores.   But just be careful about what you buy.
Most is real, but some is fake.   If in doubt, don't buy.   No one can force you to.


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LITTLE INDIA

Food!!   We have had the Singapore speciality chilli crab, which is good, but our favourite was Little India.   We caught the bus to Little India and had a wander around.

Gee, just about every store sells yellow gold.   I am a white gold person so I wasn't interested lol.
We walked into the local food court and my goodness!   The smells and selections were almost too much to decide!   We all settled on a selection which we shared and the best thing was that we could buy beer here too!   Food courts in Australia do not sell beer. 😢







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TRANSPORT IN SINGAPORE

It's no secret that Singapore has the best airport in the world - Changi.   Actually it's MRT system is pretty good too.   The lines are colour coordinated which makes it easy to follow.   We had no problem at all catching the MRT.   
The buses were good too. Once we got used to it, it was easy to catch the bus into Orchiid Road from our hotel.   
You really don't have to use taxis in Singapore.  We could not understand why there are so many Taxis as the public transport is so cheap and easy to use.  





Hubby is a sport fan.  So he is always on the lookout for a sports bar. 
Cool!   There was one next level down from Myers Electronics store!!


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VT MEET


Jen, a local in Singapore kindly organised a little VT get together.
That was the wonderful thing about this site that is sadly no more.  I knew that no matter where I went in the world, I could meet up with other Travel addicts and exchange fun conversation and laughter. 
 It was great meeting up with Jen, Shirene and friends.   We had a lovely meal and ice cream for afters in a restaurant on the river front opposite the Merloin. 






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