January 01 – Walking and Boating in Singapore

The plan was to sleep in a bit, get a late breakfast and head out to explore Singapore.  Unfortunately, we slept in so late that we missed breakfast.  And we were too late to get reservations on an interesting sounding tour to Malacca, Malaysia.  So we are doing Singapore totally on our own.

After lunch at a German restaurant we headed out to Clarke Quay to catch a boat ride along the Singapore river.  We had great views of bridges and buildings along the river…

and a downriver section of Clarke Quay that used to be the main location for incoming cargo.  The old colonial buildings have been preserved and it is now a colorful neighborhood of bars and restaurants.

Other sights included views of the skyline,

the Theaters by the Bay (nicknamed the Durian as it looks much like the noxious smelling, favorite Queen of the Fruits),

Marina Bay Sands Hotel,

and the Merlion (half lion and half fish).

After our boat ride we re-walked much of the riverfront.  The Old Hill Street Police Station was a really colorful rainbow of windows and shutters.

We made it back to the Clarke Quay with its small shops and restaurants.

We also had closer views of the Merlion (and the huge crowds of tourists there).

We saw a lot of street art of all types...

including some fascinating benches.

And there were more waterfront views...

and an interesting sign on this bridge.

And more views of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel...

with the lotus shaped ArtScience Museum in front.

We eventually got to the Marina Bay Sands Shopping Mall...

where we discovered (OH JOY) and Angelina’s Shop.  Angelina’s is an iconic tea salon in Paris that makes the best hot chocolate in the world.  There was quite a line so we will have to go back another day. 

We took the lift up to the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (56 floors) and had really great views of the Singapore skyline,

the ArtScience Museum

and the Singapore Flyer.

We even had views of the pool at the top of the Sands.  Long pool with phenomenal views.

There were also good views of the Gardens by the Bay behind the hotel.

By now we were both beat with sore feet and legs (Mary had almost 19,000 steps in for 8.7 Miles) so we decided to by metro tickets and took the train back to the hotel.

We decided to just eat in the hotel restaurant tonight.  Pumpkin soup for Mary and asparagus pasta for Paul.  Then to our room for some work before collapsing into bed.