Singapore-Day 2 and 3- Trishaws, Orchard Road and Santosa Island

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Singapore-Day 2 and 3- Trishaws, Orchard Road and Santosa Island



Day 2 was a quiet Saturday morning and started out with a quick 5:45am shuttle ride to Changi Airport to drop off some luggage at the hotel we will be using next week. This is an amazing airport. Modern, high ceilings, lots of space and lots of shopping. Sounds pretty normal but we’ll report more in-depth when we actually stay here next week. We wandered our way around the airport until we spotted the signs for the Crown Plaza Holiday Inn which is part of the airport. We left our luggage with a bellman, got our receipts for bags we were leaving, and began our search for the SMRT (Singapore Mass Railroad Transit). Figured out the MTR ticketing machine and scooted right back to the Promenade stop and our Pan Pacific Hotel. We got back to the hotel in time to once again, have the incredible breakfast buffet.



We quickly packed, did a little window shopping and jumped in a cab for a short trip to the “Rodeo Drive” of Singapore ;-) and our hotel Off Orchard Road. After checking in we decided to head for lunch and found a great soup place in the basement of a nearby mall.



The Orchard Road area has been know across the world for many years for its variety of upscale shops and malls for the upscale and average shopper. And, wow, does it live up to reputation! The Christmas lights and decorations make the street look super glittery. Christmas carols playing on the street and in the malls, eager shoppers of every conceivable nationality and culture, and an incredible variety of merchandise from $4.99 blouses to hundreds of thousands for dresses. We decided to figure out where the Orchard Road MRT station was located as we’d need it tomorrow.



Back to the hotel for a rest and at 5:30 we walked to the hotel next door where a shuttle would pick us up for a night tour. First stop a wonderful shop in Chinatown where the owner painted each of our names in Chinese calligraphy on a fan. We then walked around the corner, passing by the unusual Sri Mariamman Temple with statues of cows all along the top of the high walls. It was unusual only in that we have seen many types of Buddhist, Tao and Shinto Temples but not one for people from India. The ceramic work was so beautiful. On down the street we had dinner at a cute Chinese restaurant with folks from the UK and Australia. Jean struck up a conversation with a young woman sitting next to her. Turned out Sarah was from a tiny little town in Scotland called Ayr and Jean had been there, so they had lots to talk about. Sarah is now living in Sydney, Australia. After dinner, we had 30 minutes for wandering before a fun Trishaw ride with Nicholas our bicycle-riding driver. Instead of a Rickshaw pulled by a person, Nicholas rides a bike and we ride in a “sidecar” attached to the bike. With each bicycle powered unit, there lively pop music blaring ;-) A we went up an down alleyways and major streets Nicholas would honk his bicycle horn, ooogah, ooogah, ooogah LOL! Great fun. We hated to have the ride over at Clarke Quay..but alas we had to get out and wind our way by restaurants and shops along the Singapore Riverfront to the little tourist boats called a Bum Boats for a tour of the Singapore River and Marina. Christmas has arrived here too. Lots of lights, music playing everywhere, and lots of people out enjoying a fabulously beautiful Saturday evening. The soft wind was blowing as we made our way down the river with high rises lit all around. Under small bridges and out into the Marina where the Merlion was standing guard and spewing water into the Marina. As we made our way past the Marina Bay Sands Hotel complex we came upon a Saturday night rock concert on the shore. Great music and everyone was in a party mood ;-). Another ride we didn’t want to end ;-) But, it was 10pm and time to head back to Orchard Road.



We can hardly believe we have only been in Singapore for 2 days! We love it here. But, day 3 has come and today started out with a stroll down Orchard Road to the MRT stop. You enter at a shopping center for most of the MRT stops. Then go down two or three levels to the trains. Today is no different. Three levels down by escalators we find our train. Today we are headed to Senosa Island. To reach the island just off Singapore we take the metro and then a monorail. As we near the island we see Universal Studios Theme Park ;-) After about a 10 minute monorail ride we debark at the “beach” stop. There are free shuttle busses around the island we jump on one and take a tour of the island. We stop at one of he beaches to take pictures. There is incredible lush landscaping, lots of things to do like “skydiving”, bungee jumping, luge runs, beach sports, casinos, Universal Studios and many resorts. Lots of families out for a day of fun.



Since most of our meals are Chinese from breakfast to diner and it was getting on to noon we decided to treat ourselves to a meal from “back home” ;--) So “Chilis” it was … LOL.-we couldn’t pass this up-just had to know what the menu was and it was just like being back in the US….and it was. After chili queso dip and chicken wings, we were happy campers. The menu was exactly like a Chilies at home, except for the prices! Singapore is a relatively expensive city after China ;-). Cope had to have a chocolate fix and there was a Hershey’s store-he loved seeing familiar chocolate candy being sold at Christmas time in hot Singapore.



It was starting to get pretty warm so we decided to head back into town and visit the internationally famous hotel, Raffles, which is named after the founder of Singapore….The storied Long Bar, where the Singapore Sling cocktail drink was invented, and which was patronized over the decades by a host of literati, including Ernest Hemingway and Somerset Maugham, was where we decided to have…what else?... Singpore Sling ;-) We loved this staid old peaceful hotel with the incredibly lush gardens and landscaping, the so very upscale shops, and just reveled in the atmosphere of such a historical place. One of the long held traditions at Raffles is their afternoon tea, but after sampling a Singapore Sling and peanuts in the Long Bar, we passed on tea and headed for home.



Next: Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas…5 day cruise to Malaysia’s and Thailand.

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Photos

Chinatown
Caligraphy Fans

Chinatown and Nicholas
Trishaw Ride

Senosa Island
Hershey Shops

Clarke Quay
Christmas Lights

Raffles Hotel
Singapore Sling

Comments

[Rafael]

Singapore
Wow! Sounds like a great place! I've heard so much about it being a wonderful country. I'll have to put that on the 'places to go' list!