One Day Wonderland

Whilst this blog has seldom seen a post about a single day our 23hr layover in Singapore was something to behold earning it’s own chapter!

Our first time turning left on a plane certainly didn’t disappoint and despite the clock reading 12.05am local time in Singapore we stepped off the perfect amount of tired/rested. Our bags already checked through to Amsterdam and a late hotel change to an in terminal hotel meant we were in bed heads on pillows just 20 minutes later. A record for us.

As we drifted off, our plans for the day really were all up in the air but as he so often does on holidays Doug wouldn’t allow that to be the case for long!

Very comfortable in my bed after an 8 hour flight I was woken very early by Doug insisting it was up time. At the time I thought it was stupidly early but as the day unfolded I quickly learnt we needed every spare minute if we were to squeeze a week’s worth of activity into barely 12 hours.

Begrudgingly we were up and on our way!

Singapore joined every single other country we have travelled to with a better train system than Melbourne and we were quickly whisked to the island paradise of Sentosa, but Doug being Doug the plan wasn’t a lovely breakfast looking over the forest… No we were going Lugeing!!!

With the attraction opening at 10am we of course arrived at 10.01…

After a quick demo akin to a drivers license test in some of the subcontinent, “forward-break-left- right- OK GO!”

We were off hurtling down the hill, Doug doing his best trying to end his trip on Day 1 me blaming my significantly less mass for my slower speed!

Luge 1 done and dusted Doug promptly informed me that we had booked a further 3 trips down the hill which meant another favourite pasttime of mine was required… Dangling in an open seat from a wire… yes the journey back up the hill was via rudimentary cable car.

Fearing the car more than the Luge itself all bets were off and in no surprise i won all 3 of the next races.

With the Singaporean tropical heat starting to really rear its head and stomach’s rumbling it was time to retreat back to the mainland for lunch!

Given it was Day 1 of the Honeymoon only a Michelin Starred restaurant would do!

However given we we both love a deal this particular Michelin Star restaurant didn’t not serve caviar & crayfish - it served soybean chicken for the princely sum of $8 Aussie dollars….

Whilst amazing, given the restaurant was based in Chinatown, Doug had already shifted his focus to one of his absolute faves, satay skewers (a meal which incidentally Doug has ordered for his breakfast on our next flight!)

So off we set to Lau Pa Sat’s famous “Satay Street”

Lau Pa Sat is an enormous rotunder like structure boasting hawker style food from all over the world…. aside from satay skewers…. The signs pointing to “satay street” were everywhere but not a single vendor selling the peanut delights!

After multiple laps of the building it dawned on Doug that Satay Street was in fact, a street nearby, and only operated a night. Despondent, and with no sweet n sour backup Doug settled for a Thai replacement but vowed he’d be back for dinner!

After being on the go and in stinking heat now for almost 5 hours I needed to cool off, so it was back to the hotel for a swim!

As I sipped on my Coke Light (far superior to Diet Coke) pool side just metres from our eventual departure gate I was very content for this to be the rest of my day. But alas this is holidaying with Doug so that wasn’t to be, no, he had other plans for the remainder of our LAYOVER!

Told there was no time even for an outfit change the clothes went straight back on over my bikini and we were on the train and headed back into Singapore once more!

As if often the case when holidaying with Doug it’s easier to just follow along, he’s fastidious in planning so it means I can quite easily zone out (and as it were chew through my entire data plan scrolling instagram)

After popping out of the station into a shopping centre/ casino unparalleled by anything we have at home I found myself  in a lift shooting 60 floors into the sky.

And before I knew it I was, sipping a lychee matrini on top of the Marina Bay Sands, arguably the most famous building in Singapore if not Asia and if I’m honest I had no idea thats where I was… so much so I had to ask Doug as the afternoon progressed where exactly were we!?! I was completely taken a back when shown a picture of the building I had wanted to go up for years was in fact exactly where I was haha…

Once again a feeling of “what a way to end the day” crept in only for Doug to abruptly announce “time to go” in an immediate fashion and we raced to the very distinct lotus shaped building in front of a Marina Bay Sands which houses the Art Science museum and again Doug had already booked us into 2 of their more… out there experiences.

The first a virtual reality experience which I must admit I still can’t understand what was going on, some form of history meets advanced life forms and whilst the novelty of it provided some good moments it was largely just a confusing story told with uncomfortable googles on! I did however get a great video of Doug swinging on his chair looking like a loser!

The next exhibit though was actually really quite a bit of fun, a crossover where art meats technology, full of colour where you also create the art yourself! yes you wind the clock back, take out the crayons colour a shape ( in our case squid) for it then to be scanned in and projected on a giant installation.

Despite a prescribed 1-2 hours to complete the exhibit we were done on 20 minutes and in this time the heavens had opened as only they can do in tropical Asia!

Undeterred though it was back to China Town to track down “Satay Street” after a thorough drenching we were met largely with a disappointing tourist trap, the rain didn’t help but it was just a host of sellers throwing laminated menus in your face, we left empty handed…

Quite despondent at the satay let down, incredibly Doug still had one more thing he hoped to do. It was at this point I must admit I was pretty much done, and had the satay’s not proved a failure i think we would have been.

But not wanting to end on that note it was back on the metro, a system we now knew like the back of our hands.

We were off to Gardens by the Bay, Doug had tried to explain what was there but I really didn’t understand his excitement. All I knew was we had to be at a certain place by 7.45

After walking, then jogging, then sprinting across these enormous gardens we finally made it to this attraction only to be met with a sign “Due to thunderstorms this attraction is closed”

It was 7.44, I was still unaware of what the rush was but Doug just started confidently walking past the attendant on the door and they didn’t stop him so I raced behind him too.

As we ran further down the path we entered yet another lift and found ourselves on a raised skywalk, looking over Singapore and their Christmas Wonderland inspired gardens all to ourselves.

Well this “thing“ Doug had repeatedly mentioned but i paid little attention to turned out to be one of the most magical experiences I’ve ever had (yes, I cried).

For 15 glorious minutes we were treated to a wonderous light display choreographed to a host of my favourite Christmas carols all alone on a skywalk which would usually be boating hundreds of people.

As the step counter the ticked past 25,000 and the last song reached it’s crescendo I couldn’t help but feel we really had just had one of our most taxing yet wonderful days, bring on the next 48!

K x