Highlights Cool comfort in the hotel.

We went back to the same place for breakfast then headed for the HOHO bus. The stop was by the hotel and we were the required 5 minutes early but the first bus was earlier. While we waited about half an hour for the next bus we found we needed to pay cash. We had just enough.

John had been given the call for today as last trip I visited Sentosa and Gardens by the Bay with Katherine. His call was the bus and when I checked the reviews were good. There was mention of having to wait longer at times and this proved to be the case for more than the start. At those times we did regret our choice – but otherwise it was a good 2 circuits.

We first both sat outside and did the main loop. There were places familiar from our walk last night and previous visits. The Marina Sands and the Flyer do dominate the skyline, but I was not aware of the double helix walking bridge that we ended up passing a few times.I was going to be a swot and take notes but juggling a camera and a notebook was too much.

The main loop took us from the hotel past Raffles City to the Suntec Hub. Here there are 5 towers of fortune representing the fingers of a hand (the smaller one is the thumb) and a huge circular fountain with the water spurting inwards. We were told we should return and walk around it 3 times clockwise with our hands outstretched to receive positive vibes from the Fountain of Fortune. Actually they talked of the positive aura but we won’t be going there any time soon.

We had to change buses and headed towards the flyer and then The Marina Sands. We were told later it cost 8 billion American to build, including the land. We were also told that a lot of the land in the area is reclaimed. We passed the Fullerton Hotel which was completely different in style as it is in the former General Post Office building. Singapore is like that being a great mix of the old and new. In the civic centre area we had the new Supreme Court building pointed out. It is made of glass to show that justice should be transparent.

The bus then took us to Clarke Quay which we recognised from our walk to dinner last night. We then went past the Miramar hotel which we didn’t recognise but think it was the first hotel we ever stayed in in Singapore. This was well before blogs so we may never know if we are correct.

We might have got off at the Botanic Gardens if it had been later in the day but at this stage we had decided to do the full loop. We were told the Gardens were free to visit but the Orchid House is ticketed.

The bus then made its way slowly down Orchard Road. The prices here are not in our range, but also the slow speed had John suffering with the heat. We were both sitting on the open top but on reflection he should have moved downstairs earlier. As the next stop was back at our hotel we decided to hop off and cool off in our room for a bit.

We then hopped back on and headed for the Gardens by the Bay. We went to the view area then headed inside to the food court. This took more than a few minutes to find and we ended up exploring a lot of the Marina Sands. But the food court was great and we enjoyed our lunch. It was too hot for John to enjoy the idea of exploring the Gardens so we made our way back to the bus stop.

I had suggested we swop routes at one stop – which meant seeing Chinatown, a shorter trip back avoiding Orchard Rd but a walk back to the hotel as this route did not stop at our hotel door. It proved not to be quicker though as we had a longer wait then I hoped at the change stop. We heard the tour joke twice near here. St Andrews Cathedral was pointed out to us with the comment that it was the third building as the previous 2 had had to be replaced – proving that lightning does strike twice as it had been the cause of both previous buildings being damaged. That reminded us of the Ligthning test links we had seen around the city.

John spent the time chatting to some Australians who were waiting for the route we had got off. When our bus arrived, John sat inside and I headed for the top. We passed Speakers corner, an underused feature because to speak you need to register with the police. Then we drove through Chinatown admiring the old and new, including the Buddah Tooth Relic Temple. The tour company also offer a walking tour of Chinatown but that was earlier in the day. The tour had ‘appropriate’ music and in this area we ‘enjoyed’ Chinese opera. We then did a trip past Marina Sands but in the opposite direction and after admiring the old colonial buildings.

After a wait at the depot, we went one more stop and got off on the outskirts of Little India. We had walked there yesterday and were happy to stop at this stage. We walked through a market area and past the Goddess of Mercy Temple which was very busy. I had offered to let John shop in the electronic area but he felt that Ali Express gives him all he needs.

I was keen to walk a bit more so went back after a break to find an easy cache. There had been a cloudburst while we were back at the hotel so I was not inclined to rush as parts of the pavements are marble and quite slippery.

We ate at the Food Republic over the road. A bento box for John and sushi and sashimi for Chris with a piece of cake for dessert.  We then had a rest and shower in the hotel before we checked out. We had a quick airport trip and then got the good news that we could check our bags through to London. Changi is certainly a lovely airport with fun communal areas and lots of seating as well as good wifi. We were comfortable spending our last couple of hours in the airport.  We spent the last of our cash on chocolate, spending more than our tea had cost us.