Day 6: 14 May – Day 3 in Singapore
(RC).
Today is moving day, from the Conrad Hilton to the Four Points Sheraton
about 10 miles away. The Four Points is on the Singapore River, a
really diverse part of Singapore. The good news is they upgraded us
to a suite, the bad news is it had, how do you say, a foul smell, I mean
a really foul smell – like bad fowl had been there. We declined the
suite, but they said they could still upgrade us but we had to wait for the
current occupants to leave and they had requested late checkout to catch a late flight. We said fine and decided we
could wait in the lounge and maybe catch up on our very delinquent blog
responsibilities. The good news is we had until late afternoon to work the blog
and they had a Starbucks, not a very good one, but it was a Starbucks! Also,
it gave us some time to rest Beanie’s toe!
The replacement suite is on the top
floor – 21st story. It offers
a very nice city view and is quite comfortable, even though there are a few
“quirks”. First thing to surface was there
were no outlets in the bathroom! Kinda
made it a challenge for Beanie to blow dry her hair. Next, the outlets were just not well located
and some didn’t work. Same for USB ports.
The good news was in lieu of
offering lounge privileges, we got 5 free drinks in the bar per room per
night. Still more good news is they are
the only hotel that crafts their own beer and they have a very good pale ale
called Tall Tale. All offensive smells and electrical shortcomings are hereby
forgiven and forgotten!!
 |
Our Hotel - Sheraton Four Points
|
 |
Living room - simple but nice
|
 |
| Boudoir/Office |
 |
| View of the city and Singapore River from the bedroom |
Another very cool and unexpected treat
is there is a family of river otters living in the front of the hotel. The hotel is on the river and
judging from how well these guys were eating, there are plenty of catfish to be
had. There are three adults, one male and two females, and five pups! It was surprising to see how noisy and
unafraid they are. They just come and go
as they please, spend most of their time squabbling over almost anything,
eating and playing. Good entertainment.
That evening we had some complimentary beverages in the lounge and then did a little walkabout on the
river. It’s a very walkable area and the river is lined with great walking
paths and stores/restaurants packing the lower levels of every building. We settled for a little pasta with prawns and
a Caesar salad at an Aussie place named The Boomerang (yeah, not too original)
and it was pretty good. Just the right way to
end the day.
(KC)
The Sheraton was no Conrad but it was a nice change to be in a less
touristy, residential area of the city. As Randy mentioned because there
was no elite member lounge in the hotel, they instead offered 5 free drinks in the
bar/coffee shop, every evening during happy hour, 7 to 9. When we were
finally able to get into our second room after rejecting the first because of
the odors, we discovered some quirks.
Randy was disgruntled about the outlet situation (you did see how he trashed his seat on the flight to Singapore didn't you?) then made the comment “well I can see why they give you 5 drinks!” I laughed pretty
hard. Actually this hotel, with all its
quirks and warts, made me feel more like we were in the Asia that I know and
love.
Since we had several hours the first day
waiting for the second room to become available, we set up home base in the bar/coffee
shop where we could work on the blog, watch the river otters and the people walking
their dogs and jogging along the river.
There was also a large monitor lizard who lived near the otter
family. They seemed to co-exist well with
each other, much like all the different ethnic groups of this large city. I did a walk about while Randy was on the computer and found a place for
dinner. That evening, after enjoying
free drinks in the bar (no not 5!) we walked along the river to the
restaurant. On the way we stopped to
listen to a Chinese man playing an instrument. The instrument is called an Ehru and we think you will recognize the
way it sounds. He was very good.
(RC) Here's a few river pics of the area. It seems very livable, though based on what we've read, housing is on the very high side. Average condo is about $1M and average "land home" is about $3.5M. Government subsidized housing averages 70% less and is where 80% of the people live.
 |
| Workman keeping the river clean |
 |
| One of the many bridges |
 |
The Warehouse Hotel - considered a boutique hotel, or as I call them - overpriced! It was an opium warehouse many years ago
|
 |
| Wedding Day - You can see the same couple from across the river in previous pic |
 |
| They had a little fun with this bridge - I like it!! |
 |
| How nice is this? |
Day 7: 15 May – Day 5 in
Singapore
(RC) Today we boldly go where no man has gone before – The Botanical Gardens. The Singapore Botanical Gardens are an UNESCO
World Heritage site, which in our tiny minds, carries a bit of weight. They are also well known for their orchids. I don’t know, I’m still a little giddy over
Tulipmania so I hope my tired old heart can handle the orchids! You guys on the
Wednesday golf bunch are in for a real treat!!!
We caught a cab to the gardens. A quick chat regarding the taxi system in
Singapore. In a word it is
stupendous. It’s reasonably priced, especially
considering the cost of everything else here. The cabs are set up so when you request
a cab by phone or text, you are provided a reservation card with the cab
number, which is the license plate number. The cab arrives with your
destination already programmed in. All
the cabs are very tidy and most drivers have a good working knowledge of
English. Because Singapore is so small, 12 miles x 30 miles, nothing it too
long of a drive so it works out really well.
There is also very good mass transit with both rail and buses. Okay, in the words of Crosby Stills Nash and
Young, it’s time to get back to the garden!
Before we get too far into the gardens, a quick observation. Beanie and I cannot help noticing all the effort the Asian women, especially the young girls (as well as many of the young men) put into posing for selfies and pictures. It doesn’t seem to have much relationship to what the background is, the emphasis is on their posing. The poses are obviously well practiced. We tried to imitate a few of the more popular ones with very limited success. Evidence to follow!!
The gardens are expansive with several
large-scale displays. Our first stop was the rain forest gardens which cover
several types of forests in this part of the world. Allegedly there are some pretty cool mammals
running around including civets, monkeys, some little gopher dudes and a couple
larger reptiles like monitor lizards. We did have a couple of sightings –
granted it wasn’t like Africa, but it was pretty neat.
 |
They said they had squirrels and we're pretty sure this qualifies
|
 |
| These monitor lizards are a little scary, but we really enjoyed watching them forage. |
One of the things I found most
interesting was the maintenance crews.
The upkeep for something like this is off the charts. I compare it to a
golf course combined with a small zoo and a crapload of flora. There was one
crew trimming trees, but it was at the jungle canape level. No super cherry pickers, just a dude with a
rope working his way to the top. And there’s a reason this part of the forest
is called The Giants. I’d be lying if I
said I didn’t find this place interesting, but I am going to leave the Orchid
discussion for the Bean. I’m afraid I
might tear up!
 |
| Intro to the Rain Forest portion of the gardens |
 |
| Little challenging tree maintenance - can you see the guy on the top? |
 |
| This dude is about 100 ft up, no power wench, just a come along and really strong legs!! |
(KC)
The Singapore Botanical Gardens was founded in 1859 and became
Singapore’s first UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.
(KC) It’s huge and is located smack dab in the
middle of the city. What an oasis. It’s free to citizens and only costs $3.40 for
us tourist seniors. We were surprised to
see that after the eye watering prices for admission at The Gardens by the
Bay. As Randy mentioned it was separated
into different garden areas – we didn’t cover all the areas but we did see the
rainforest, the wetlands, the ginger plants and , of course, the orchids. OMG, the orchids!!! I couldn’t stop taking pictures so brace yourselves! We had seen an incredible orchid show in
Honolulu many years ago, but this was far beyond that. And the highlight of the orchid garden was
the Cool House, which was temperature controlled to simulate high mountain,
cool rainforests. These orchids were
stunningly beautiful and many were huge. But first here are some photos of the rainforest and wetland areas.
 |
| Entry into the Rain Forest |
 |
Behind the waterfall
|
 |
| This is one large Banyon Tree!! |
 |
| Waterfalls in the rain forest - who thought of that?? |
 |
| Workmen cleaning the river |
 |
| Maybe the largest geese sculpture I've ever seen! |
 |
| We thought this was a pretty cool statute - kinda captures childhood curiosity! |
(KC) Okay we're heading to the orchids!!
 |
On the way to the Orchids. They got upset with me when I pulled out a wedge - maybe a 9 iron?
|
 |
| Orchid pavilion and gift shop |
 |
| We said our posing prowess is a work in progress! Beanie still has a way to go!! |
 |
| Welcome to the Orchid Garden - this might hurt a little bit! |
 |
| Incredibly lush exhibits |
 |
| A nice German couple offered to take out pic - nice job, IMHO! |
 |
| It's sometimes hard to remember you're in the middle of the city |
They had an exhibit call the Cool House. It houses orchids that are found in less tropical climates. It was a very nice display and a great reprieve from the heat and humidity. Needless to say we kinda stretched out our time here.
 |
| Nothing to see hear - let's move along! |
 |
| Something most of us never would see. |
 |
| I tried to stop her, but . . . . |
 |
| Good contrast shot between what's growing outside vs inside the cool house |
Okay kids, this is a little pictorial display we like to call, "Death by Orchids". Beanie just couldn't call the ball on one or two favorites so it's full monty time. Kidding aside, they really are pretty cool. So here's a bunch of close up shots that really capture their look up close. Hope you like!
 |
| Death Pic # 1 |
 |
| Death Pic # 2 |
 |
| Okay, it's not an orchid! Just making sure you were staying with the program! |
 |
| Death Pic # 3 |
 |
Death Pic # 4
|
 |
Death Pic # 5
|
 |
| Death Pic # 6 |
 |
| Death Pic # 7 |
 |
| Death Pic # 8 |
 |
| You know, I was having a pretty nice walk, a good day, and then , , , , , |
 |
This is the exit and just really, just pretty part of the gardens, even better with my Bean
|
(RC)
When we got back to the hotel, we cleaned up and headed down to the hotel
bar. There was a tall pint of Tall Tale beer
with my name on it. We hung around, had
a couple of beverages, and then headed to the hotel restaurant for yet another
gourmet meal. Yep, you guessed it – we
split another club sandwich. It’s weird,
after a long day in the heat and humidity, we have just not been hungry in the evenings. Of course, the huge buffet breakfasts may
have something to do with that. It was
an enjoyable meal made even better by watching a couple of young men thoroughly
demolish a local favorite called Mookata. It has Thai origins but essentially
it is a combo hot pot and grill which you do at your table. A gas bottle is used to heat a metal plate
that’s about 18” in diameter, The outer portion of the plate is a 3–4-inch
recessed ring that serves as a hot pot for boiling whatever you like and the
inner portion is a slightly convex area used for grilling. The waitress brings
over a truckload of food, fills the “moat” with a chicken broth, fires it up
and from there you’re on your own. The food items vary by request, but these
two guys went through shrimp, pork, mounds of greens, bushels of noodles (cooked
in the chicken broth), and a plethora of other vegetables. Beanie and I were watching in awe and saying
how these guys must do this all the time.
It got to the point that when we left, I had to walk over and commend
them on a job well done. I said you guys
looked like you choreographed the entire meal, chopsticks flying around, food
going in and out, and never having to stop eating. Know what they said? “This is the first time we’ve ever done
this!” LMAO!
As the final creme de la creme for the
evening, just before we left, the waitress came up to us and said, “BTW it’s 10
minutes to 9 (the end of happy hour) and you still have one more free beer as
part of your free five drinks”! Now THAT
is customer service! Yes, I did go get
that last free beer – remember it is the best beer in Singapore!
Day 8: 16 May – Day 6 in
Singapore
(RC)
We woke to a cloudy, overcast day, with heavy rain. Good day to catch up on the blog. We had a
little breakfast and got to work. Not
sure how successful we were but we did manage to get the first few days done
and published. Probably not our best work, but . . .
The river otters were evidently on the
run today. Beanie saw them early in the
day, but they were nowhere to be found for the remainder of the day. Made us appreciate the great viewings we got
earlier. There is quite a bit of
research including a bunch of YouTube videos.
We looked at this cheesy one that kind of shows how it all started, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hbo8IgaEY4. The gist of the
story is river otters are doing very well in Singapore.
(KC)
I’m writing this 4 days later, so having trouble remembering what all we
did this day. But I think it was
sleeping late, laundry (the hotel has a washer and dryer - $12 per wash & $12 per dry) and the blog. The rain stopped in the afternoon and we
walked along the river and ended up having a very nice meal at a Middle Eastern
restaurant. It was a slower day but a
nice day.
(KC) Some observations on Singapore:
We had hoped to get a day of golf in Singapore but have not been able to get a tee time at the courses we wanted - that translates to courses that cost less than $400!
It's a beautiful city, a wonderful mix of old and new architecture.
Tree lined streets and parks everywhere.
The different ethnic areas of the city are fun to explore and very different from each other. Walking in Little India felt like we were back in India.
The city is SO CLEAN!
Housing and cars are very expensive here. We found restaurant prices along the lines of Phoenix except for the hawker stalls, which are a lot less expensive.
Randy already talked about the price of housing. The average cost of a car is $140,000, $100,000 of that is taxes and fees. The taxes and fees have to be renewed every 10 years. But the city has a very good bus and subway system.
There are huge fines for such things as not using the crosswalk, spitting and chewing gum. These signs are posted in the streets.
