We landed in Singapore SO early. Like, 1 Am. We couldn't get a cab for an hour! We arrived at Eveline's SO late. Once we were awake and ready to eat, we went to one of her fave brunch spots and got some pretty epic breakfast. My french toast was pretty good, but not as good as my faves in the US.
We checked out many open air markets. Singapore is like no other Asian country we've been to in that they are so honest. Everyone carries packets of kleenex around to use as napkins. When you want to reserve a table at a shopping mall or market, you just leave the kleenex packet on the table and leave. No one steals your kleenex, no one steals your table. Why can't we do that in America, people?!
We went to the top of an apartment building and got a great view of Singapore. It was something that Eveline has never done in the 2 whole years she's lived here.
Singapore is also celebrating its 50th anniversary of Independence from Malaysia. There are SG50 signs everywhere.
We went to a very specific market for some Yian Yian chicken rice. I had no idea that chicken rice is a thing. And boy is it! It's absolutely delicious. I didn't even need to eat the chicken, just the rice. The long line and wait were well worth it.
After lunch, we went to a temple to see Buddha's tooth. Yes, a relic! Upon entering the temple, Eveline and I were scolded for wearing shorts (so sexist, I freaking hate religions that won't allow women to walk in however they're dressed but men can wear shorts) so we wrapped a skirt on and went in. Tons of people chanting monotonous prayers and millions of candles and identical buddha statues on the walls.
We weren't allowed to take pictures of Buddha's tooth. So sad. It was interesting to see all the fuss for the tooth. In fact, in the room where the tooth was held, you couldn't even see it. I could only see a crown and a pedestal. There are so many offerings. Funniest thing of the whole tooth temple was that the tooth was only discovered in 1997. There's no way that the tooth is legit. Funny.
The roof garden had a column that when you hold the railing, it spins. We played around with it a bit.
This was taken with a panoramic camera. We just had fun trying to see it all folded out.
After the Buddha museum, we went to a Hindu temple. Again, we had to wrap a skirt around ourselves, only this time, it was Indian themed so it was extremely colorful and flowy. It actually looked feminine. They also made us take our shoes off even though there was tons of dirt around.
The entrance to the temple as well as the eaves of the roof were covered in idols and figures. Everything was colorful.
We took a cab to Raffles, or so we thought. We couldn't drive all the way to the hotel because Singapore was having a dress rehearsal for its festival. And this was not the first. Oh no, they rehearse for over a month, making sure that the parade and the fireworks will go fine without a hitch. It also helps the millions of people that can't see the actual celebrations get a chance to see them up close.
We stopped to look at the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Eveline was excited about it as there's a chocolate and cheese buffet atop it. Aaron wanted to watch the parade rehearsal and check out the Military tanks, so we parted. It was a terrible idea, as he was stranded on a single street block and couldn't get back to us for about 2 hours. All of his frustration happened while I was at Raffles, the hotel that invented the Singapore Sling. DELICIOUS!
It was invented in the 1920's and the whole hotel was so cool to just look at.
My singapore sling was something I'd totally order again, or at least in America.
Once we reunited with Aaron (it seriously took him walking all the way back to the Marina bay Sands and coming around the long way to find us) we sped off to the Night Zoo. AMAZING! When you attend a regular zoo, the animals are sometimes lethargic or avoiding the sun. In the night, they are boisterous, and moving a ton.
I got absolutely NO good photos as I wasn't bringing my camera on the trip. Also, flash was discouraged, so I don't think anyone got a good shot. We saw Elephants super up close. Also, lions.
What a genius idea! The animals would come out in the evening and eat because the sun wasn't glaring down on them.
We didn't get back to the apartment until after midnight. What a great way to start off in Singapore!
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