We awoke to the sound of our alarm clock at 3am, very weary but both excited that our travel day to Singapore is finally here. It wasn't too hard to wake the girls, they were up and dressed before we knew it. We'd booked a taxi for pick up the day before, and at 4am we headed to the airport. We have travelled from Darwin airport before and we knew how stress free it was. For some reason Marty and l bickered amongst one another for most of the time before boarding, maybe due to lack of sleep or the way we respond to internal stress. Even though the airport is cruisy, we still get anxious before travelling overseas, being its only our second time.
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| Excited girls, wouldn't think its 5am!!! |
Singapore airport was equally as casual as Darwin, not too crowded and easy to work out directions. We exchanged some money, got our bags and caught a taxi to the Novotel at Clarke Quay. As soon as we got outside the humidity hit us big time. Marty instantly reacting with sweat beading his forehead and drenching his t-shirt on the back. The taxi was cheap at only $15 for the 20 minute drive. My first impression of Singapore on our short drive to the motel was a good one. It was so beautiful and lush with its tall trees lining the roads and flowering shrubs. There was no graffiti to be seen, or rubbish lying around. Cant believe its a major city and so crisp and clean. The only thing disappointing was the sky was very smoggy and smokey.
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| Girls think their rich! |
We arrived at the Novotel and checked in, unfortunately we couldn't get our room until 2pm. With that we dumped our bags and decided to kill some time by checking out China Town. It was a short 1.2km walk up the road and Marty and l felt confident that we could read our maps easily. As we strode off down the street we tried to take in our surrounds. There was so much color on the buildings with window shades painted brightly. The footpaths were all so clean, not a scrap of rubbish or leaf litter to be seen. Marty and l struggled to cope with the heat and humidity and by the end of the walk, so too did the girls. We ventured to China Town which was beautifully decorated with huge fabric flowers lining the tops of the streets. The markets were all along the small canals off the main street, all pretty much selling cheap fans (which we purchased straight away, helped to create some air flow amongst the dense humidity), bags, umbrellas, clothing and electronics. One thing we found out straight away is that Singapore was not going to be cheap like Bali. The market prices were nothing cheaper than in Australia, hence not much was purchased on our first outing at the markets.
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| Views of Clarke QuAY.... |
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Hazy skies, can see the Marina Bay Sands
in the background! |
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| Love the message... |
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| Boo loved the arty tunnel... |
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| Singapore is in party mode! |
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| OH&S at its best! |
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| Marty was chuffed to be an icon in the city! |
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| Love the greenery within the city.... |
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| Such brilliant color! |
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China Town...
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| Meg captivated by the children decorated lanterns! |
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| Love the provincial architecture and color.. |
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| So much to look at! |
We called into the Sri Veeramakaliamman temple, it being the first Hindu temple to be built in Singapore. We took our shoes off as instructed and headed in for a look. The temple inside was amazing, with bright coloured paintings on the roof depicting different stories and messages. There were many people entering and practising their praying as well as some maintenance going on with the surrounding structures to the building. The girls were fascinated in the pictures with some snigger's and giggles going on due to the paintings of naked women with their breasts exposed.
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| Every Hindu temple needs a cow to sacrifice right? |
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Loving the Hindu influence in decorating the architecture....
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| Such enormity! |
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| Amazing paintings of depiction.... |
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| Meg spotted the boobies! |
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| Loved this doorway of bells! |
Further along in our walk we headed into Macca's for lunch, the girls were starting to loose it and needed energy quick. The heat was getting to them, both faces red and sweaty, with the fans not cutting it anymore. We still had 2 hours to kill before check in, so hopefully the Macca's will get them thru till our walk finishes. We were greeted by the most friendliest Macca's workers l have ever encountered. Think this was to be the way of Singapore, politeness and manners to the highest. The girls reluctantly left the air conditioned Macca's to get back out to the heat of China Town. We made our way up the end to another temple that was on our bucket list of things to see in Singapore. We arrived at the Buddha Tooth Temple Relic and l was soon stopped before entering to cover up my exposed shoulders with a shawl and the girls had to wrap around a cover to hide their legs. Bloody ocker Aussies and their singlets and shorts!!! We walked in to find practising monks with their books, bowing their heads in silent prayer. I felt like we were invading their privacy, that this temple was more of a tourist hot spot than of a place of silence and prayer were people could come to hide from the world. There was a roped barrier that was only accessible by the Buddhist's people, at least some kind of escape l suppose. There was a wall called the 'hundred Buddha wall' which was exactly that. It had one big Buddha statue surrounded by 100 smaller Buddha's, all separately framed. The colours were vibrant and rich with alot of gold. We were totally engulfed in the beauty of this temple, the girls even being more quieter than normal, not completely silent, but quieter! We also loved the reprieve from the heat, loving the air conditioned comfort within the enclosed temple....
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| Posing Singaporean! |
Back out to the heat and the girls lost it, we had to walk back to the Novotel and it was quite a triumph when we got there, the girls having done a fantastic job seeing they had been awake since 3am, done an international flight and walked the streets in 80% humidity for 3hrs!! Child abuse or silliness?
We were greeted by the friendly staff in this lovely decorated hotel and sent up to our room. The girls ran in, loving the coolness of the air conditioned room instantly, followed by their single beds. We rested for some time, l even got to enjoy a relaxing bath after the girls had had one! Amazing how little things like a bath can excite our girls after living in a van and not having a bath at all!!
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| The jovial Buddha we all know and love! |
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| So polite..... |
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| Girls so deserved a rest after such a big day! |
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| First bath in a while and bubbles were a must! |
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| Girls of glamour in their robes! |
Later on we headed out to Clarke Quay for an early dinner and early night sleep. Well that was very hopeful....walking around the streets was really great to start with, but after an hour and no one agreeing on what foods they wanted. We stopped off at one restaurant for a happy hour drink and thought we would be able to have a meal there but no-one could agree what they wanted. So we headed off down the alleys and eventually we were just happy to settle for anything and ended up at a place called "Wings" which was themed as army air force. The Singaporean waitress was dressed up in a skimpy shirt and tight top as an army chick. Girls loved her and the restaurant inside with all the air force memorabilia and they even had an airstrip painted up the middle of the walkway. After an exhausting day we scoffed down our meals, which were delicious but expensive, costing us about $80!!! We headed back to the Novotel all being ready for bed. Clarke Quay looked alive and vibrant with all the coloured lights turned on and music oozing from the restaurants on the river and down the alleys. Really cool environment and l reckon if we hadn't had the girls with us, Marty and l would have sat and had a few quiet drinks and enjoy the atmosphere. Instead, we had two little tired girls who had really put in a mammoth day. Back at our room and the girls were asleep the quickest they've been for ages. Marty and l climbed into our King size bed and enjoyed our space, stretching out as far as we could. So love a king bed!!!
Bell Xxx
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