Beating the storm...getting to Singapore

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Leaving at 1:15 am made for a long day leading up to the flight.

Reubs and Caitlin both buzzing and by midnight just slightly annoying. Better than whinging so no complaint made by dad.

Departure formalities a breeze. Interesting part was when Customs pulled Reub's day pack off the conveyor belt for inspection. Turned out the machine gets a bit suspect on day packs that are too 'light'. The boys day pack consisted of a GoPro, charger, cell phone and his headphones. All the vitals for the teenage traveller in 2018. Silly us with first aid kits and other such nonsense.

Despite concerns about the storm coming in we got out without delay or issue. Apparently I am now told its important to know something about the plane your travelling on. I did not know this. We were on a Boeing 787-9. It has the 3, 3, 3 seating configuration in Economy. We were in Economy. The Economy relates to leg room. Knowing what we were flying made absolutely no difference to the trip. I now wonder if it's in case they make a mistake and put you on a Boeing 787-200 and then you can point out their mistake, share a laugh while they say 'silly us' and move everyone onto the spare Boeing 787-9 they had forgotten to bring out!

What was important was travelling Air NZ, flight NZ282 for all the train spotters. It was comforting to know that Holly was back in Auckland tracking our flight. Suspect it would have ruined her day if we suddenly 'splashed' off her screen. Probably put a bit of a downer on our plans too. Holly, rather than tracking planes you need to get out more. Leave the plane tracking to Grandma.

Flight was a bit lumpy once or twice but overall really pretty good.

Got into Singapore 9 hours 50 minutes later and breezed through formalities. Love the honesty system here, nothing to declare then you just wander straight out. Guess that whole death sentence thing is considered a reasonably good deterrent.

Taxi to hotel arriving at 7:30 am. Great trip actually as driver was an interesting fella happy to tell his story. Fantastic first look at the city in the cool of the morning. Impressive to say the least.

Furuma City Hotel is our residence for these two nights and is nestled conveniently in the corner of Chinatown. Room not available until 11 so first wander around the area.

Very humid but easy to beat with so many air conditioned malls and buildings around.

Bit of a kip for 3 hours and then around 2:30 pm walked into Orchard Road and just walked the length. When you've been up for 31 hours straight what teenager doesn't want to walk 10 kilometres in the humidity sweating profusely. Looked in some shops, laughed at prices and then caught a taxi (I spoil them, I know) back to the Furuma. Treated them to an hour in the pool and then headed out for dinner.

Walked through Chinatown. Was interesting and colourful and vibrant but neither the kids or I saw anything that interested us. In the main was junk, but fairly pricey junk. The kind of stuff that looks awesome in a market, garish in the home. 'Straight to the pool room with that, mate'. One bloke was offering 10 fridge magnets of assorted Singapore themes for $10. I told him I only had one fridge. He said you can put more than one magnet on a fridge. I now own 10 Singapore assorted theme fridge magnets. Probably fair enough as I hadn't told him I had a chest freezer in the garage. Guess what everyone's getting next Christmas. I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil the surprise.

Everyone in bed and sound asleep by 9:30. Great sleep.

Now the Furuma is described as a leading mid budget hotel and has won awards 5 years running. It's alright. No bells and whistles. But alright. We are probably on the more budget conscious side of the business as there is no company picking up the tab. Accordingly our view from the fourth floor is down into the reception and facing across into some assorted businesses, I think one is an accountant but as I don't read Chinese I'm not sure. BasIng it more on the guy in there looks like an accountant. We sometimes wave at the reception staff. They don't wave back. Bit rude.

Had breakfast at the hotel restaurant as the reception staff offered a really good deal. Or maybe it was consolation for not waving. Regardless, this morning we had breakfast down there. A leisurely affair and it was really good. Confirmed Caitlin is more of a morning person than Reuben. Reckoned he needed two cups of coffee to wake up. It worked. Didnt have the heart to tell him it was decaf.

Mid morning headed down to the Gardens by the Bay. Just walked down and again it was muggy. Bit quieter as it is a Saturday morning. Half way down ducked underground and went most of the way through under ground level malls, walkways, subways etc. Was much cooler and very different. Came up close to a Marina Bay Mall and wandered through there heading for the the Marina Bay Sands hotel as we were heading for the rooftop lookout. The mall was ridiculous in its opulence. It had all the most famous of labels, Gucci, Prada, Rolex, Louis Vuitton and Ferrari...but no K'Mart so it's not there yet. Beautifully presented, cool to walk through but nothing else there for us.

Found the entrance eventually and paid the S$69 for the three of us to go up to the viewing platform. Three times adults now, no kids rates anymore. Some consolation as I'll soon be claiming seniors rates. Something to look forward too.

After the gripe it was worth it. Fantastic perspective on the city and brilliant looking out over the Gardens. Hot up there but managed an hour. First time here worth paying the fee.

Then headed into the Gardens and ambled throught this huge complex before heading to the two huge Eco-domes, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. Paid the fee here too. Ouch. Started in the Cloud Forest. This was really good and really interesting. Did around an hour in there moving through the Sky walks and were there for the 2 pm 'misting'. For a few minutes a number of vents released 'mist' into the atmosphere and while I have no idea why they did it it was quite cool gave the place a real feel of a rain forest. Perhaps that's all they are aiming for. Anyway, we liked it.

Being the care giver extraordiniare that I am, I then fed the kids. Pork steam buns from a street vendor. These were amazing. Feed the family for $5. bonus. Gave them water too.

Headed into the Flower Dome then. Pretty much rubbish we thought. Particularly with half of it being set up like Santas Grotto and Christmas stuff all over the place. So it's tropical gardens...with a tacky Santa set at the North Pole. Incongruous springs too mind. Gave it 15 minutes then gone.

Trekked back to the hotel, getting back around 5 pm then out for dinner to 'Chicken Pot'. Locals were queuing to get in here. We joined them. Glad we did. So, 'pots' on an open flame are put on the table. One with a chicken dish and one with prawns. Plus some dumplings for good measure. Fantastic.

Now back in the room. Time to pack for an early start to Hanoi in the morning. 6 am start.

It's been a casual but good fun couple of days.

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Photos

Pensive...
...wandering through the Gardens towards the Domes.

Team photo...
...really need to remember to suck it in! Particularly beside these two stick insects.

Miss Photogenic...
...Singapore CBD in the background.

The Gardens...
...from on top of the Marina Bay Sands.

Inside the Cloud Forest...
...lots of colour. Very well done.

The waterfall...
...inside the Cloud Dome.