Singapore Day 2

The alarm went off at 8am but we still didn't leave the hotel until 10am. Majority of the time was spent getting Lew out of bed but we also FaceTimed my parents who were home from work for lunch - Find my Friends is another great app as I was able to track them and see that they were home! Heading out we had snacked on a banana for breakfast and planned to find something else eventually. We took the MRT one stop to China Town and walked down the main street. They were selling anything you can think of and it reminded me a little of the Indonesian markets although much much cleaner. It was another boiling hot day but thankfully not raining as we planned on walking to the Red Dot Design Museum. On the way we stumbled across the DP Architects building who had mini versions of all the buildings around the world they had designed and built since the 1960's including all the plans.

After looking around and of course using their pristine bathrooms we tried to find the Red Dot Design Museum down the road only to find it had closed earlier in the year as they were rebuilding and moving to a new location but still weren't open yet. This seems to be a constant issue with this city we keep having. Since it's growing and upgrading so much nothing is where it used to be 5 minutes ago! Despite that we managed to find a cute wee cafe called Guac & Go - you might have seen us check in on Facebook as you had to do this in order to use the free wifi. We ordered this Mexican chicken dish that came with corn chips, guacamole etc and a berry smoothie which acted as breakfast/early lunch for $30.

Finding the nearest MRT station we decided to take a visit to Sentosa island just off the coast of Singapore. We came out of the station into another large mall only being able to window shop due to the already excessive weight of our luggage! To get to Sentosa you can either walk the boardwalk which is covered and not too long or take the monorail across for $4pp each way. Being the cheap arses we are we walked all the way through the activities such as Universal studio, visiting the Merlion, a waterpark etc to get to Palawan Beach. This is considered the southern most point of Singapore. The beach was beautiful golden sand that over looks the harbour filled with container ships. F15 fighter jets were coming in over us to land on a nearby air strip making the most horrendous sound in the sky.

Lew spent a good half an hour studying the rules for flying drones in the area before he decided to get it up in the air. We were managing to actually use the data we had on my phone from my Indonesia phone plan and it wasn't bad service either! He got a good view of Sentosa from their max height of 60m (in NZ its 120m) but came back down straight anyways as an airforce helicopter was closing in at a low height. I was busy brushing my teeth in the bushes as the Mexican we had for brunch was still very strong in my mouth. He was very concerned that the drone needed to come out of the air NOW and back into the bag. I managed to catch it with my toothbrush in my mouth. Whilst he was putting it back in the bag he asked me whether the helicopter had turned around! 😂 I don't know what he was thinking? Would it turn around and start shootings the drone down?! There is definitely two different types of drone flyers- your either very good at checking in on the local laws and being a responsible pilot or your type complete opposite and don't bother reading up on the rules and regulations. Unfortunately it's those people who don't care about the rules that will ruin it all for everyone when they disallow drones everywhere.

We walked around to the other side of the beach to the shade and went for a paddle. The water was much too hot in patches (no we did not pee!) but it was still refreshing. There were tonnes of fish around all the same type but from very small babies to medium sized ones. After walking back down the beach to find a shower and changing room we found the tickets for the gondola to Faber Peak.

At Faber Peak Lew had found a walk that incorporated a bridge called Henderson wave bridge that he wanted to see. The gondola was totally worth the $29 pp we had paid as it provided incredible views over the city and its multiple ports. They were made for 8 people but Lew asked the lady managing the line whether we could have one to ourselves so he could take pictures out the window. The gondola goes through Harbour View gondola station which is actually the top story of a 15 story building! Quite impressive sailing above everyone at work in these offices. The line then continues to Faber Peak where we stopped. Asking at the ticket office we got directions to where the walk commenced and it was a short 15 minute walk downhill in the shade.

The bridge was pretty easy to spot with its incredible curves sides spanning across two different peaks. It was so high above the ground Lew said he got a funny feeling in his stomach! There was a bride and groom having some photos taken on the bridge. I guess it must be a popular site. Walking back up the hill we reached the gondola entry point and took this back to Harbour View. Entering the high rise building we then had to take an elevator from you 15th floor down to the ground. Surprisingly it was a glass elevator and we got a surprise when we stared going downward! We ended up going back up to the top in order to appreciate the view for a second time.

Walking to the nearest train we were feeling very sweaty and gross so we went back to the hotel to shower and have some down time before finding dinner. Lew FaceTimed his dad Paul since it was about 9pm at night and we also entered into a heated Facebook messanger politics debate with my family - mainly my brother Tayler.

I found a place close by for dinner which was another hawker but slightly more upmarket than last night. It was called Lau Pa Sat Food Hawker Center. It had such a presence when we got close by with all the satay vendors outside the front with their grills on fire cooking large rows of chicken and prawns. Neither of us were feeling the satay so we went inside the building to find a more organised array of mainly Asian but the occasional other type of food. I set my eyes on a place called Ya Fuh who were selling a bowl of Sin Chee Bee Hoon which I had read about one of the favourite dishes at these markets. And for a price of $4.80 why not! Lew on the other hand decided to try a Costa Rican shop which was selling these amazing pulled steak taco with guacamole and cheese. I had also read that sugar cane and lemon was a favourite and Lew got us a couple of cups of that. Yet again we ate for a total of $18.30! (Excludes the chocolate ice cream Lew purchased on the way home!).

We walked back through the satay vendors enjoying the atmosphere of the crowded tables and the smoke from the grills. We thought perhaps we should have tried it out but we were well and truely full now. Heading back to the train station in the still incredibly hot and humid air despite the sun being down we called it a night. Tomorrow we would be leaving our tiny windowless hotel and heading to the famous city on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf... yes you guessed it! Dubai!!