Singapore, SingaporeWoke up early and had breakfast at the hotel before going down to the lobby and waiting for our pick up for our Round Island Tour.
Pick up arrived a little early and we went through the same "pay at the depot" routine before boarding our bus and heading off to Haw Par Villa (aka Tiger Balm Gardens) just west of Singapore city.
Went for a walk through the "10 Courts of Hell" depicting all the horrible things that will happen to you after death for a variety of sins prior to reincarnation. It was amusing to say the least.
We then had 20 minutes or so free time to look around the gardens. I decided to buy some fish food and feed the tortoises in the ponds around the gardens. I was supposed to be feeding the fish but there didn't appear to be many as the tortoises came from all corners to get in on the action.
We then boarded the bus and drove through the Jurong industrial area and then north up to the Kranji War Memorial. We spent about half an hour wandering around the manicured graveyard and memorial site despite a brief rain shower.
Next stop was lunch as we drove past the Causeway across to Malaysia and took in the views across the Johor Strait to Johor Bahru. We stopped for lunch in Sembawang at Banlieu House which was overlooking the strait across to Malaysia. Lunch was great but probably needed more food for 10 people! After lunch we had some free time to wander down to the "beach" and take advantage of the cool breeze.
We again boarded the bus and drove on to Bright Hill Temple which was more like a complex of temple buildings crematorium. Interesting to walk through the complex with its many temples gardens and statues. There was also a large Buddha image in the main temple building and some fish ponds and waterfalls at the front of the complex.
Our last stop was the Changi Chapel and Museum. Apparently the original chapel was relocated to Duntroon in Australia so a replica was built here. The prison, of course, was used as a prison after the war and is now being moved/expanded so all that was left was the replica chapel and the museum.
The museum was interesting but to me it was all a bit of an anti-climax and didn't really have the historical air to it I thought it would.
After checking out the museum we boarded the bus again and drove around Changi Airport and along the East Coast Parkway back into the city where we were dropped off at our hotel. We got dropped off first for a change which was nice!
After dropping our bags off in our room we went out for a donut and coffee then rested before going to dinner at the Raffles City Shopping Centre food court for our last dinner in Singapore (the airport doesn't count!).
Returned to the room to pack some things and get some sleep.
2025-05-22