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Published: January 18th 2007
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Hallelujah !! The sun is trying to break through the clouds on this warm and humid day. But at least it’s not raining.
We walked over to Suntec City and enjoyed a traditional Singapore breakfast of Roti Prahda with cheese and curry soup. It came complete with entertainment as I watched the chef methodically hand stretch the dough on a stone slab, before frying it on the grill. It was delicious and was a bargain at $2.00 USD.
We boarded the HIPPO bus and were happy we could sit on the outside upper level today. We enjoyed our view of the spotless, well-manicured city and its modern tall buildings. These were in sharp contrast to the picturesque old shophouses in Little India and Chinatown. We switched over to the city bus loop and disembarked at Clarke Quay for the bumboat ride up the Singapore River. It was a scenic ride as we passed colorful shophouses, now serving as seafood restaurants and waterfront clubs. We also passed under 3 charming bridges. We entered the harbor and saw the wish balls floating in the water, which will reflect different colored lights during the New Year’s eve celebration. People can write their
Hindu Temple
Little India wishes for the new year on them. The boat ride also provided us with a great view of the Merlion Fountain at the river mouth entrance.
From there we went back to Brewerkz for a delicious beer. I tried their oatmeal stout this time which was creamy with a silky finish. Quite good !
Helen and I hopped back on the HIPPO bus to enjoy the view along Orchard Road with the multitudes of Christmas decorations. We disembarked at Mustafa Center on Arab Street - the 24 hour everything market. They had all kinds of reasonably priced souvenirs, a beautiful selection of saris and jewelry, and electronics galore. They say if you can’t find it here, you can’t find it anywhere. We barely scratched the surface in an hour and strolled through Little India filled with lots of little shops on our way to Bugis Street Market. It reminded us of the Hong Kong night market with over 500 stalls selling all kinds of stuff. It is very easy to lose your way here as you navigate the labyrinth of rows.
We walked back to the hotel from there in about 20 minutes and relaxed a bit
before heading out on the Magical Moonlight Tour to Sentosa Island. We departed Suntec City at 6:00 pm on the upper bus level and enjoyed our scenic ride past the harbor and across the bridge to Sentosa Island. It had a very Disney feel to it. The main building area looked similar to the Grand Floridian Hotel. It was a nice walk along a fountain studded walkway to the open air theatre for the magical fountain show. It was necessary to arrive there at least 1 hour prior to showtime at 7:40 PM, because the seats fill up quickly. The seats are wooden, backless benches - not very comfy, but spaced a good distance apart between rows with ample pitch so each seat had an unobstructed view.
The show was a simplified take-off of the Fantasmic show at Disney-MGM, but cute none the less. The giant Merlion with changing color lighted eyes, added to the mystique. Our guide told us that the waterfront area and fountain show would be closing next year, because Universal Studios Asia will begin building there for a Summer 2010 opening.
Our tour continued to Bugis Village with some free time to explore the
Hawker Center for dinner. I enjoyed a delicious pad thai with prawns for about $2.50 USD.
Our last treat on the tour, was a ride down Orchard Avenue underneath all of the Chistmas lights. Singapore has one of the largest displays of Christmas lights in the world. It definitely had 5th Avenue in NYC beat.
The HIPPO bus dropped us off in front of our hotel and we lingered a while in the beautiful hotel lobby looking at the beautiful Christmas tree and listened to the live jazz band. We relaxed on our balcony and watched the New Year’s Eve light show practice with the changing colors reflecting off the wish balls in the harbor. After a relaxing bath in our hotel soak tub with the complimentary bath salts, we finished the last of our Tiger beer and enjoyed the twinkling skyline from the balcony. It was a great way to spend our last night of this fantastic trip.
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