Sydney Nighttime Arrival

We were up early today for an early morning flight from Singapore to Sydney.  Our flight was 7.5 hours, with our arrival after 8 at night.  We are staying at the Intercontinental Hotel, in downtown Sydney.  After checking in, we went for a walk to the Harbor and around the Opera House, just a block away.  It was a beautiful cool evening, with a full moon peaking through the clouds.  Just beautiful!

Gardens by the Bay

Genevieve and Marcel met us at our hotel at 10 this morning.  We walked to a nearby cafe for coffee and kaya, a Singaporean breakfast staple consisting of tasted bread, butter, and kaya jam.  It is a bit sweet and salty and delicious!  We then walked to Gardens on the Bay.  We spent three hours exploring the Cloud Forest, the Flower Dome, and walking around the top of the super-tree observatory.  For me, it was an incredible day of botanical and architectural bliss!  The views from the super trees are incredible, over the buildings in central business district of Singapore.  The architecture of the super trees is tall and interesting!  The flora was incredible, with so many tropical plants that I love.

After all that exploration, we were hungry and went to Tonkichi Japanese restaurant for a delicious meal.  We walked about a bit more and bought pastries on Orchard Road.  We took a taxi to Genevieve and Marcel’s flat and had pastries together, before saying goodbye.  What a wonderful two days in Singapore we’ve had!  Genevieve and Marcel were amazing hosts and guides!

Singapore

We arrived in Singapore Harbor by 7 and left our cruise ship at 8:30 this morning, went through customs, and took a taxi to our hotel in Singapore, the Amoy, a heritage conservation project, 37 room hotel in the Central Business District, behind the Fuk Tak Chi Temple, one of the oldest former temples in Singapore, built in 1829 by Cantonese and Hakka immigrants.  It is currently a small museum.  It was too early to check in, so we left our luggage with the hotel receptionist and went for a walk.  It was a hot morning, so we meandered through buildings looking for shade until we saw the Fullerton Hotel, built between 1924-1928 as Singapore’s Post Office, renovated and converted to a luxury hotel from 1998-2000, it sits on the Singapore River, at the Cavenagh Bridge.  We rested and regrouped inside the Fullerton Hotel for half an hour before crossing the bridge and walking about the Colonial District, where modern Singapore began following the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles, from England in 1819.  The original buildings have been repurposed, the Asian Civilisations Museum, Victoria Concert Hall, Arts House at the Old Parliament, National Gallery Museum, Saint Andrew’s Cathedral, and the Boat Quay filled with restaurants and bars.  All charming!

We met our friends, Genevieve and Marcel at 12:15 at our hotel and went for lunch at a Korean restaurant.  Delicious!  We met Genevieve 32 years ago when we lived in Sarasota.  She came to train with Hugo, Audrey’s tennis coach.  Audrey and Genevieve became friends.  Genevieve came for three summers and we enjoyed getting to know her parents.  They visited us at our vacation house in Patagonia, Arizona in the late 1990’s and we went to the Grand Canyon together.  We have visited them in Switzerland a couple of times and met Marcel.  Genevieve and Marcel married in 2007 and have lived in Singapore since.  We are thrilled to see them and spend time with them!

After lunch, Marcel took us on a walking tour of Chinatown, Little India, and Arab Street, with short rides on the MRT, rail network.  Our walk was colorful, through hawker food stalls where we made stops for iced coffee and sugar cane juice, through markets selling fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meats, Indian sarees and kurtas, and almost anything else imaginable!  We saw beautiful murals covering buildings, colonial architecture as well as modern architecture.  

“Singapore is a highly developed country with the highest GDP per capita in the world.  Singaporeans enjoy one of the longest life expectancies, fastest internet connection speeds, lowest infant mortality rates, and lowest levels of corruption in the world.  It has the third highest population density of any country.  With a multicultural population and in recognition of the cultural identities of the country’s major ethnic groups, Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.  English is the common language.  Multi-racialism is enshrined in the constitution.”  We are quite impressed by Singapore!