Three of us started the day with breakfast, Talia slept in (which saved us from her morning whinges!)
We had planned to go to Raffles City Shopping Centre this morning so set out and walked to the MRT and got off at Raffles
. Wrong, of course. That takes you to Raffles One (close to where Ken comes for work, you'd think he'd know!). Anyway, we decided we would walk, as it takes you past the lovely gardens and the Theatres By the Bay, which is a fantastic armadillo inspired building. We then went down into the underpass shops of Singapore. The girls managed to buy a couple of things as we checked out these cheaper shops.
We made it into Raffles City where Larissa found a suitcase which looked great for her trip to Europe next year. We decided to have coffee while she thought about it and googled prices online. Off to Starbucks for free wifi, she enjoyed her fruit frappe while the rest of us did her research. The youngest child, maybe? Decision made to buy, we spent an hour wandering around the shops before having lunch. We ended up at a Din Tai Fung in the basement of the centre. We were given a menu and a form to fill in our choices and told to wait for a seat. When we were finally allowed to sit we had to check what we wanted and they took the form away
. We had a great view of the dumpling chefs going about their endless job. We were given green tea and then our meals started arriving. Larissa had dumplings (we ticked the wrong box, but they were still delicious) and the rest of us had noodles. They were fantastic and very fresh with a small amount of flavours stirred through. A bit like a good fresh pasta needing only a little bit added to. Apparently one of these restsurants is Michelin starred and named by New York Times as a top 10 restaurant in the world. The dumplings are world famous. There is a little bit of Soup-Nazi attitude from the staff, but it adds to the fun!
Lunch finished we went and picked up the suitcase and jumped in a cab back to the hotel, where Ken decided he needed a nap. Standing around waiting for 3 women to shop is very exhausting!
Time to head out again, back onto the MRT and after a couple of changes we were at Bayside, and a short walk to Gardens By The Bay. On the walk through the tunnels out of the MRT is a hall of sellfie mirrors. The walkway is lined with mirrors and beautiful flower pictures, and people taking selfies
. It is really pretty and of course fun to pose.
Gardens By The Bay is an amazing place. It is beautiful and lush. We went into the 2 domes, which you pay for . The first was the Flower Dome. There are trees and plants from Australia, Africa, America, Asia and Europe (everywhere really). 1000 year old olive trees! Anyway, it was quite a spectacular display. There was also a Christmas village set up in the middle of the dome. The only problem with this place was that it was cold. Take a cardie if you ever go there.
Next was the Cloud Dome. We walked in and found ourselves at the bottom of a massive waterfall. It was loud, a little bit wet and cold. This dome is also fantastic. It was getting dark as we were walking up towards the top. This added to the wonderful atmosphere of being in the clouds.We could see the beautiful Christmas lights down by the Super Tree Grove and the city lights beyond. You really do fee like you are in a lost world, with a fantastic living wall covering the structure of the building.
Once we left there we went to the Super Tree grove and watched the light show which my have been better a little further away, but was still very nice, with a Christmas soundtrack.
Next on the agenda was the light show on the bay - I know how many light shows can we take? It was a bit of a wait but after all the walking we had done it was nice just to sit and enjoy the cooler night air and look at the city skyline and the lights on the water. The light show was great - lasers off the Marina Bay Hotel and the crazy boat on top of it into the water and sky, choreographed to music.
Now it was late, time for dinner at the Raffles Hawker Centre. Talia and I had a nice Kway Teow, Ken and Larissa had an average Indian meal. Then we made the mistake of walking home the very long way. Tired feet and bodies, more taxis please!
25,457 steps
17.78kms
Gardens By the Bay
Monday, December 01, 2014
Singapore, Singapore
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2025-02-16