Day 12, Year 4: Another Crazy Day in the Life
Date: Monday, November 3, 2008
Weather: Overcast with Periods of Rain
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
It’s midnight and once again we just got home. We left at 9 am this morning and what a full day we had. We left this morning intending to go to two places and then return to the boat by noon. When we got to the bus stop, we met up with Dave and Judy of Freebird and they had the same agenda for the morning as us, with just a couple of additions. So we decided to go together. Somehow we constantly underestimate the time things will take and now fifteen hours later we return. But it was fun!
Our initial goal was to visit the Sultan’s Mosque and to do a little shopping on Arab Street. But then we started adding little things to our agenda. Our first stop was the Singapore Post where we were checking on the cost of sending packages home. Ouch! The cost is outrageous, so we will have to think of a more creative way of getting Christmas presents sent to our kids. Next we stopped at McDonalds for breakfast. Then we got on the MRT and made the Sultan’s Mosque our first tourist attraction of the day. The mosque dominates the Arab Street area with its huge golden dome. The prayer hall is also huge. We had on the right combination of clothing today (basically arms and legs were covered), so we got to go inside and actually see the prayer hall. Judy and I were interested in looking at the huge variety of silk materials available on Arab Street and it was really overwhelming. There are Thai silks, Malaysian silks, Japanese silks, Indian silks, and fake silks. We got a lesson from the first shop keeper we visited and will have to return to make purchases. It was just too hard to make the choices in a limited amount of time. We walked around the corner from Arab Street to the Malay Heritage Center and learned a little more about the history of Singapore. By this time it was almost 2 pm, so we gave up all hope of returning to the boat before our trip to the Night Safari. We just kept going full tilt . . . lunch at the Lavendar Food Court, shopping at our favorite boat store in Singapore, Marintex, a second visit to the Temple of a 1,000 Lights in Little India, and a fantastic visit to the Buddist temple across the street where we enjoyed a service of chanting and meditation by the monks.
If you aren’t worn out yet, come with me. We then parted ways with Dave and Judy and got on the MRT and headed out to the Singapore Zoo. We had made prior arrangements to meet Tina and Robert of Shirena there to visit the Night Safari. A 20-minute MRT ride, and 30-minute bus ride later, we arrived, had a Bongo Beef Burger, and went to the performing animal show. We then started our safari trip. We did a combination of tram ride and walking to see animals of the night. We saw tigers, lions, leopards, elephants, water buffalo, Asian rhinoceroses, and a host of other smaller animals in their natural nighttime habitats. It was great fun even at the end of an exhausting day.
We pushed today to see so many things because we were still planning on leaving on Thursday morning, but I came down with a killer cold last night and we still have “must see” things on our list, and a few “must do” items, so we are going to extend our visas and leave a few days later. So tomorrow is definitely a day of rest. The next day (our Wednesday morning, your Tuesday night) we watch the US election returns in the morning and go to extend our Visas in the afternoon. We still plan to leave no later than next Monday, weather cooperating. So Thursday will be our last “touristy” day with a visit to China Town, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we will prepare to leave.
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| 081103 Day 12 Singapore–Kampong Glam, Little India Again, Night Safari |
