Holiday: Singapore: Gardens by the Bay

We all had a good, deep sleep last night and didn't wake up until after 8am which almost unheard of.

This morning we did a bit of a shopping, I had found a chocolate mould place I wanted to visit, it happened to be just round the corner from Raffles Hotel, so we decided to do the two together.  Raffles was looking as lovely as ever.  We looked up how much it was these days for a Singapore Sling there, S$38, not worth it!  So we took a photo at the front and left it at that.

We then went to Sun Lik Trading which was my baking shop.  It was small, but had a bit of everything...I managed to pick up some Christmas chocolate moulds that I don't have for very little so was happy.  

Next stop was the Sony shop - Matt was after a new camera and had found a good deal.  Lunch was a pretzel at a Swiss bakery.  Then back to the hotel for a rest and swim.  The plan today is to do Gardens by the Bay - but we want to do it at night when you get all the illuminations.

So, at 4pm we headed out, got the bus down to Marina Bay Sands.  It was gone 5pm, we were all a little hungry so we thought we would go in the obligatory shopping centre first to grab a snack and keep hunger at bay until we had tea.  Oh my word, the shopping centre at the Bay is enormous, ENORMOUS.  We were completely overwhelmed by it.  All the shops were high end brands, so of course we didn't know many of them and we weren't dressed correctly to enter any of the shops anyway!  It even had a canal going down it on which you could rent gondalas (idea stolen from Las Vegas I think!) 

The food court, of course was right down the other end of the mall - it took about 10 minutes to get there.  

We were slightly concerned that the food might be high end too - but it was fine - it was a huge court full of an array of very reasonably priced food.  We found a snack place and got a variety of 'puffs' (deep fried pastry things some with fillings).  They were all very nice and very cheap.  It was enough to fuel us to walk all the way through the shopping centre again and back to the Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay.  

We had bought tickets in advance just in case we got there and were told it was full.  I don't think we need have worried.  We weren't really sure what we had bought tickets for either - the information on the website wasn't the best.  We didn't know if you needed a ticket to enter the area and what a 'ticket' would give you entrance to.  Anyway, we found the way to the gardens - you had to walk through the Marina Bay Sands Hotel to get there (the hotel with the 3 towers with a surfboard on top of it) - it was very big and airy (and air conditioned which is always nice).

We got to the gardens and they were free to enter which was nice.  We had tickets to the flower bowl so we headed to one of the glasshouses.  This place is a bit like the Eden Project - it has two glass domes (one is the flower bowl, the other a cloud forest).  We were wondering how it works.  Obviously the Eden Project is a dome because it is trying to get as much heat as possible, here surely they would need less heat?  We were hoping that maybe they were air conditioned...we went in...they WERE air conditioned - yay.  There was an array of plants from South America, Europe, Australia etc.  The main display though was of orchids - the national flower of Singapore and they had put on a great display.  Even Tom thought they were great and took some photos!

We then headed to the Super Tree Grove and the observatory tower - ie to the tallest of the super trees.  These were inspired by Australian Eucalyptus trees and actually have a function: solar panels on top to generate power and they also release excess heat from the area - clever.  

We timed it for sunset - unfortunately there wasn't much of a sunset but it was nice enough.  We then headed down, had an ice cream each (lemon mint sorbet for me - was delicious!) and then waited for the light display.  Tonight's one was all about the moon - so some Chinese songs, some English songs all with sparkling lights.  It was lovely, romantic, even with 1000's of others all around watching it.  A lovely ending to our holiday.  

We then headed back to the food court, had tea: cheesy Japanese curry for Tom (?!), Malaysian chicken for me and chicken wings for Matt.  All very very lovely.  Then straight back to the hotel for bed - we were all shattered - again!!!!!

Holiday: Singapore: Little India and Night Safari

We had a wonderful sleep last night - all of us were flat out for the night!  Our alarm went off at 9am and we reluctantly got out of bed and down to breakfast.  Shock, horror, this hotel doesn't do a buffet breakfast - there was a menu to choose from...

Tom had bacon, sausages, eggs and pototo, I had avocado on toast with feta cheese and poached egg and Matt went for the omelette.  Hummm, mine was fine as was Tom's but Matt's arrived as a square block of jelly yellow bricks!  It didn't look nice and apparently didn't taste nice!  Oh dear.  There were pastries and toast so he filled up on those but he was disappointed.

So we booked ourselves tickets for the night safari for tonight, so decided not to go too far today.   I thought the boys would enjoy Little India - I remember going there last time.  It wasn't too long after my actual trip to India and I found the place too sterile, but if you haven't been to India, it's the next best thing.

We arrived and immediately our senses were awakened - we could smell spice in the air.  The area is 'old Singapore style' - old 2 level colonial style buildings and lots of shops - mainly selling gold jewellery but also sari shops, cafes, souvineer shops, mobile phone shops etc etc.  Pretty much every face was Indian - most are Tamil speakers here.  There were murals on walls all over the place.  It was an interesting area to wander through.

We came across a great Hindu temple: The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, I had forgotten how colourful and covered in sculptures Hindu temples can be.  The Buddhist temples in Thailand  were ornate with gold and colour, but these are on another level.  We had arrived at a busy time, there were people crowding everywhere inside, so we didn't stay too long - we weren't worshippers, just onlookers.

We carried on our walk through the area and ended up in a place called the Mustufa Centre - wowzers, it was a massive, massive place.  In contrast to all the shopping centres we have been in, this place was one store, and it was packed, PACKED with stuff.  It was 6 floors high: electronics and sports in B2, shoes and clothes in B1, perfume, toiletries, clothes in Level 1, Level 2 was food, 3 was homewares, 4 everything else.  Normally I get excited in a big food hall, but the amount of stuff in it was so overwhelming that I gave up looking!  I did look for chocolate moulds etc in the homewares section, but no joy there either.  I did get myself a rolling pin though, Matt got some tiny screwdrivers, a padlock for his case and another holiday T-shirt, Tom got a new wallet for his phone.  We could have bought so much more though!

Once we had finished there, we came out and looked for somewhere for a sit down and drink.  We found a restaurant: Cafe Syed.  They sold loads of juices - I went for sugar cane and lemon (they forgot the lemon - but to be honest we couldn't understand anything the guy said to us and obviously he didn't understand us either!), Tom stayed safe with a mango lassi and Matt had a Bandung Dinosaur (a pink milky concoction with chocolate powder on top?!)  

 then realised it was quite late - well after 1pm, so we ordered some snacks for lunch: Mutton Coin Parata and Cheese Boom Plaster.  We weren't really sure what they were, but knew they were small from the prices. 

So the coin paratas were thin Indian bread with sugar inside that were twisted and fried.  They were served with a mutton curry to dip in.  The curry was delicious, but sweet bread and curry together - a bit strange, but when in Little India do as little Indians do.  The Cheese Boom Plaster (we ordered it for its name alone!) was more of the same sweet fried bread but with cheese in the middle.  It was also served with a curry - a vegetable one this time.  Again delicious and a perfect snack - very glad we went authentic and ordered stuff we didn't know.

After lunch we went to see another temple - we dipped into a 'regular' shopping centre for the air con.  This was a great place if you are a kid.  They had strung up netting across the open space in the middle of the shopping centre - up all the levels and turned it into a huge soft play area for for children - think they had about 4 levels of soft play netting to explore.  What a great idea - shame Tom was too old for it.

 

We found the other temple, which was as ornate as the other one, but much quieter and then we got the MRT back to the hotel for an afternoon rest before the night safari.

We headed out of the hotel to a sushi go round for tea - Tom was very happy with that.  We then got the MRT up north to Katib from where we got a shuttle bus to the night safari.  It took a good hour to get there.  We arrived to a huge queue, it moved quickly enough but it did feel like half of Singapore were at the zoo.  I went back in 2000 when I last visited and remembered a tram ride and a little walk, but certainly didn't remember the crowds and queues.  It has developed big time.  

Think we had to queue at least half an hour for the tram ride - to be fair the queue was constantly moving, it was just very long.  It was good and informative and all the animals were awake and doing stuff: lions, elephants, rhinos, hyenas, deer, babirusa, hippos etc.  We then headed to the ice cream store to cool down, it might be night time but it was very hot and humid and we were very sticky!  Next was an animal show where we saw a couple of eagles, turkey vulture, racoons, red river hogs, binturong (why have we never heard of binturongs before - they look like teddy bears!)  a porcupine and owls.

Next we did a walking trail around the park and saw loads.  All those animals which are normally fast asleep in zoos were up and busy. We saw: fishing cats (very cute), leopard cat, clouded leopard, rhinos, tiger, porcupines, otters, civets, bats (massive, massive wings), owls, binturongs, Tasmanian Devils (although they were fast asleep), rhinos, ibex.  It was really well done, there was soft lighting all over - just enough so you could see where you were going, but not too much so your eyes could adjust well to the dark.  There was lots of info on everything.  But mainly it was very hot and our feet were beginning to ache.  

We decided to call it a day (night) and headed home it was 11pm. We had been there since 7.15 so it was a long visit.  Didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight.  We went straight to bed.  Tom was asleep in minutes, we were asleep not long after. 

Holiday: Khao Lak to Singapore

We had to get up at 4.30 in order to be ready with our cases for our pick up at 5am to Phuket Airport and our 9.25 flight to Singapore.  Ouch!

It all went like clockwork though. We phoned reception to collect our bags - it was a long way to reception  and although it was 4 in the morning, still very hot - too hot to drag bags around a hotel, plus we would have woken loads with the rumbling of the wheels!  We walked to the lobby, where there was who I thought was a security guard fast asleep under a blanket.  At 5am on the dot our car arrived and the girl under the blanket jumped to attention - she was our guide (although why you need a guide to sit in a car to an airport I don't know?!)  We watched the sun rise and the country slowly awake as we headed to Phuket.  The airport was our side of the town so we didn't see it.

We arrived before the checking in gates opened and before any interesting cafes opened (Matt had to go against his principles and get a coffee from Starbucks!)  We could easily have had an extra hour in bed.  Oh hum!

When we checked in there was a problem.  Our flights were booked by our travel agent, they had booked a child's seat for Tom.  However, as we have discovered, in Thailand Tom is not a child.  They measure a child by their height - if you are under 1.2 meters you are a child, if over you are an adult - so we have had to pay for him as an adult everywhere.  For this airline (Scoot) a child was under 11.  They couldn't check him in, we ended up having to pay the difference in the ticket (we had loads of cash left over so it wasn't a problem) bit of a hairy moment though.

We went through passport control and security - no problem at all and into the airport where we tried to spent our left over small change.

Our flight was uneventful.  It was a budget carrier and under 2 hours, so easy.  There was food on board, but you had to pay for it and  we decided we would have lunch once we landed. However, they came to us and said that our lunch was paid for?!  We were each given Asian Treasure Rice which was actually quite nice.  However, it had mushrooms in it so a certain someone couldn't have it.  We were almost the only ones on the plane who were fed - we have no idea why?  Maybe as compensation for having to pay for an upgrade for Tom?

We arrived, found our transfer and headed in to the city.  Formula One are coming to town, lots of preparations are under way for it.  We also drove past the new bay area which looks stunning.  Our hotel is at the bottom of Orchard Road - the shopping road full of shopping centres.  We checked in - it is quite an old hotel (for Singapore) but comfortable enough.

First stop was the nearest shopping centre and lunch for Matt - we found a basement full of food and went for Indian - Tom and I shared a portion too - it was really good, very authentic.  We then walked up one side of Orchard Road dipping into lots of shopping centres and down the other side.  It really is a shoppers paradise.  Tom got a new Ghibli T-shirt (he is an adult large here!!!!!) we all had a 3 o'clock Japanese bread product from a bakery (yummy!) and found where we were going to have tea tonight (massive food court)

Our feet were beginning to ache so we headed back to the hotel, called Granma to wish her a happy birthday, had a dip in the pool and went out for tea - Vietnamse Pho for me (always been curious -tasted very like the noodle soup you got in Laos) and Japanese curry omu rice for the boys.

Then back to the hotel and bed - we were shattered!

Sorry none of us took a photo today!

Holiday: Quiet Time in Khao Lak

So we had 3 nights in Khao Lak.  We decided the first full day really should be a relaxing day - we had been fully employed with activities etc at Elephant Hills for our stay there, it was really very good, but we needed a rest. I also had to catch up on this blog and Tom his scrapbook, so we had a lie in each morning we took Tom shopping to find an inflatable and a ball to play with in the pool and we spent our days in the pool larking around, catching up on this, eating, playing cribbage, drinking mocktails and repeat!

   

We did think that we would do something more significant on the second day, such as hire scooters and go to see the monument to the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami (this is where it hit Thailand - 5,000 people died in Khao Lak alone!), but in the end we didn't.  

We got ourselves a Thai massage instead - Matt had a traditional Thai massage, I had a back and neck massage and Tom a foot massage.  Can't say it was relaxing - spent most of it in pain as she pressed very firmly in all directions.  However, I could move my neck much better by the end.  Matt also was in pain but was happy with the result.  They took it easy on Tom!

We also got our laundry done - we almost ran out at Elephant Hills.  Loads of laundry places in the area, they do it by the kilo, probably 5% of the price the hotels charge, and it comes back beautifully packaged.  We were all delighted to have some clean clothes! 

 

One night we decided to have a traditional Thai BBQ or Mookata for tea.  We ordered it for 3: chicken and pork for 2 and seafood for the other - with the idea we would share it round.  The food arrived - there was enough for an army!  Not only were there 3 platters of meat, but also 3 platters of vegetables!  We had over ordered.  Then the BBQ arrived - this was a cook yourself type of a dinner.  It was very hot, just what you need in the evening heat...more heat.  Then they brought out another BBQ - oh no.  We told them not to bother with a third.  We were going to melt!  The table next door to us were laughing at us at this point!  With good reason!  We did our best to put a dent in it - managed to almost eat all the meat - but we were all groaning with stomach ache on the way home!  

  

We didn't go in the sea at all - it was too rough the whole time we were there.  However, it wasn't a problem, the swimming pools kept us busy and happy.  

 

 

Holiday: Elephant Hills Day 4 and on to Khao Lak

So, another good night's sleep, breakfast gong at 7.30n to wake us up (lovely way to wake up!) and our last breakfast and so our last taste of the amazing bread they have at breakfast time!

We met up with Nong at 9.15 (extra 15mins today to get our stuff packed).  Today we had a jungle walk through the forest.  We were each given a bamboo walking stick and we walked down to the river which we crossed by canoe and into the thick forest.

It was only a 0.67 mile walk, but it took us 1.5hrs, it was mega hot, raining, and steep.  Also there were some young children who basically had to get carried everywhere.  We learned about butters roots - wide to keep trees upright (but can easily fall over in the wind), banana plants - every bit of a banana plant is useful: you can eat the fruit and flower, you can use the leaves in cookery or as roofing.  I'm sure Nong told us about some other plants as well.

We heard plenty of wildlife but didn't see any, although we were pretty sure we were being watched!

We ended at a hut, where we were given a cooking demonstration - coconut curry soup and Thai scrambled eggs. I went to the top of the class as I knew all the cooking ingredients: Kaffir lime leaves, turmeric, galangal,  chilli, garlic and onion (everyone did know garlic and onion).  They made the soup the proper way by hacking open a coconut, grating it and squeezing it with water etc.  They then heated up the coconut milk and then added the spices and chicken - they didn't fry the spices or chicken first which I thought strange.

At this point - I was seeing stars,  I had overheated and couldn't cool down, even though I was sweating profusely.  I kept having to kneel down to try to stop the flashing lights.  It worked but then every time I stood up again the flashing lights came back.  Not a great situation!  Luckily I spotted some water in the corner, and refilled my water bottle and remembering a trick from Israel, poured some cold water on my hat and put it on my head - it was instant relief!  I stopped sweating and, calmed down, the flashing lights disappeared and I could join in.  Phew!  Guess I wouldn't be a great jungle explorer!

So we all had some roast monkey (pork), soup and eggs with rice and it was very lovely.

We then walked back a much shorter way to the canoes and the camp (I don't think we ever got that far from the camp - the forest is so thick that you can't see more than a meter or two!  We jumped in the shower, packed up and left our suitcases for the porters to pick up (very posh) and went up to the dinning room to say thank you to Nong - she was a perfect guide, full of fun, knowledge and a very good and calm manner.

We then were shown our vehicle (air conditioned - yay) for our transfer to Khao Lak and away we went.

The transfer took 1hr 15mins, along lots of back roads - so a pleasant ride.  We checked into the hotel - which was massive.  Our room is super massive - Tom has his own big room off ours and is delighted.  There are lots of pools, and it looks out on the beach.  The rooms are wonderfully air conditioned too and our bed is massive.  Think we will be ok here. 

We went straight out to buy some cold drinks, bit of a hiccup - we had both seen a mini mart from the taxi on the way in, but on looking again, we couldn't find it.  Of course it was about 3pm so steaming hot in the direct sunlight.  We gave up, walked back, bought our goodies from another shop and then when we were almost back at the hotel, we found the mini mart - argggggggggh.

We had drinks and then explored all the pools.  Some of them are long and thin and the basement rooms have their own  patio on them, they link together around bars, under bridges etc etc. There are some jacuzzi areas too.  We found a second set of pools - the water in them was hotter - a bit like a spa - not sure `I would like that in this weather - you need refreshing water not hot water!

We ended up in the main pool just by the beach.  There was a bar in this pool and next door a huge restaurant where breakfast is served.  The beach is a lovely orange sandy colour, but the waves quite big.  Not for swimming in, but for paddling only I think.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. 

Before heading for tea, we decided we would find a bar for a drink - we found one called Moose Bar with a huge Mousse's head outside - perfect!  Tom and I were on mocktails whilst Matt had a beer and we played cribbage and found out about a new sport: Florentine Football, basically a huge boxing match with a football!

We then found a restaurant for tea - where Tom had a carbonara pizza - interesting and a little too rich, I had tamarind pork and Matt a big bowl of curry.  All good.  We couldn't wait for bed!