Days 5-6: Singapore!

After watching Crazy Rich Asians (twice), I had high expectations for Singpore...and Singapore did not disappoint! We got up at the ungodly hour of 3:30am, so we could leave our rooms at 4:15am. We arranged for two taxis to take us to the airport bus terminal (about 5100 yen each), then rode about an hour to the airport. We dropped off our routers at the airport post office, then quickly sped through the First class security/immigration line.

 We had paid a little extra to fly in an upgraded first or business class seat for the 7 1/2 hour flight from Tokyo to Jewel Changi, as we wanted to be sure my mom was comfortable. We had seats 1A, B, C etc, which sounded bougie, but was not really. Not sure it was worth double the price we paid, as all it offered was wider seats, a foot rest, and wifi that didn't work...but it was still affordable as we flew a budget airline (Scoot). We paid for hot meals, which were served almost immediately after take off, which wasn't bad as we had been up since 3:30am, and it was now 9am. The whole service was definitely more pleasant than Coach, but only nomimally so...we did it largely so my parents would be comfortable. 

Jewel Changi was as beautiful as I'd hoped. Nothing worth making a special trip too- see, but interesting. Where else in the world do you deliberately choose to hang out in the airport for another few hours, just to check it out? There was enough things to see/do there to occupy another 4-5 hours there, but we were tired...so we just checked out a few of the main sights.

To start, we went straight to the massive waterfall, filled with plants from floor to ceiling! It was like a jungle/tropical oasis...and all within a giant glass dome. We also went to the mall, slide (which was closed) and had lunch there (at the food court). I really wanted to find the ropes course/nets, but it would have been too much to do after a full day of flying.

We took the metro to our hotel stop in Clarke's Quay, and immediately noticed the first of many many very green-covered buildings in the city. I've never seen so many green spaces (vertically) in such an urban city, and the year round warm weather ensures that they trive. The greenery and cleanliess are what I will remember most about Singapore. 

It was also the first metro we've ever taken where you didn't need to buy tokens or a ticket, you could use any credit card you had as your entry/exit card...so easy!!! Thankfully, Rich, Ry and I each had a different credit card we could use. The system is bloody brilliant.

We had a short walk to our hotel, which was well located, but definitely claustrophobic. It was the most expensive hotel we booked on the trip, and by far, the tiniest (normal for Singapore real estate). We paid more for a window (my parents did not even have that), and had to laugh, as our view was of a dumpster across the street.

The next day, we took a cab to the nearby Gardens by the Bay (2 mile drive). The property is a massive sprawling green space of manicured spaces- each zone unique and different. I wish we had had more time to explore it. We got to spy the Super Trees in the daytime (they were about 50 feet high), but beelined straight for the Flower Dome. I was convinced the line to get in would be a mobfest, as it's one of the most popular attractions in the city...so we got there 30 min early to queue in line.

Weeellll....for whatever reason, there was no line, so we had time to kill before the place opened. We ended up cruising the area, and going to the greenest Starbucks I've ever seen. We also found a piano that Ryan got to play on for a few minutes as well, as we waited for it to open.

Once we got inside (first in line!), it was just heavenly. Unlike hot/steamy, noisy and crowded Japan, it was uncrowded, quet, cool and pleasant. Such a vast difference! I was so HAPPY to be in there after the nonstop heat/discomfort of four days in steamy Tokyo.

Our family literally represented about 1/5 of the entire crowd in the Flower Dome that morning for the first hour...never was it even a little crowded...but omg, it was so nice and cool compared to the humid inferno outside.

I really wanted to find these bottle trees (baobao bottle trees, that store water in their trunks. They reminded me a lot of something you'd see in a Dr. Suess book, and are like giant succulents storing water. 

We took a series of what we called 'photos for the urn' for my parents that day, haha, as there were so many nice areas.

After spending an hour or so in the dome, we made our way over to the Cloud Forest. This one had a lot more people in it (it's the more popular of the two), but was still far from crowded. It had a misting every few hours that I was determined to see...but we walked around and saw the whole dome. It was pretty massive, and had a suspended walkway you would cruise around on to see different levels of fauna.

The misting was SUPER anti-climactic, and I think if you hail from a tropical island, was not quite as impressive...still enjoyed it, but actually preferred the quiet of the Flower Dome (the waterfall was noisy).

They had an Avatar theme going on at that time, and you could get turned into an Avatar. Let's just say we are more attractive as humans and not Avatars, and those photos will not be shared.

The best part of this photo is the Marina Bay Sands building behind us...a quintessential Signaporean landmark.

After lunch, we took the metro over to the Marina bay Sands to check it out and have lunch. I had never seen hot pot buffets before in a good court, but they dominated the scene! 

Again, this is a country of just green spaces everywhere!

That night, we took the Metro and returned to the Super Tree area to watch the nighttime show at 7:45pm. The colorful, synchronized dancing light show is set to accompanying music, and did not disappoint. Unlike our sights earlier in the day, it was PACKED. Bodies were everywhere covering every inch of the floor space and it was HOT so this was not pleasant, but it being open air helped. The show felt very much like a Disney theme park production, which is to say, it was really well done and professional/mesmerizing...we laid down on the ground like so many others, so we could comfortably watch the show without torqing our necks. 

Once it was over, like a Disney park, we slowly shuffled out with thousands of others, and made our way to the taxi stand queue...and then stood in it for about 45 min because it was a zoo. In hindsight, walking out to the main street and catching an uber would have been a better option, but it was late, hot and everyone was tired. All in all, a very successful and busy first day there!