Just a quick delivery to our plane before our flight could take off though.
We arrived to Singapore late at night and the city was alive with energy. We checked in to our hostel and grabbed a cup-of-noodles soup to satisfy our hunger before heading to bed for a less than restful sleep with our multiple roommates.
Day 118- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
We awoke with a new pep to our step as we checked out of our hostel and hailed a taxi to our next location. Every christmas Mike's parents get him a gift certificate to the Fairmont Hotels. It has become somewhat of a tradition for Mike to receive this gift. Usually we make a ski weekend out of it and head to Banff or Lake Louise but this year he decided to hold on to it. Well, Singapore just so happens to have a Fairmont Hotel. Did we know this before we booked our flight here? Yes, yes we did! So off we went to our next location, excited to see what was in store for us.
When we arrived, we were greeted like royalty and with such respect. This was a surprise as we looked liked wet rats with backpacks. But this didn't stop them from treating us with exceptional customer service. Then, we arrived at our room.
It was beautiful...and clean...with no roomates... and it had a fantastic view.
and it had a desk?!
and... last but not least... it had a large, spacious, THREE piece bathroom!!!!
Originally, Mike and I had big plans to maximize our short two night stay in Signapore. However, after a FaceTime with my sister and her shocked reaction to my abysmal state of aesthetic affairs, Mike and I decided that immediate measures needed to be taken. I needed to turn my one eyebrow back in to two and Mike needed to vacate any new inhabitants from his beard... so we cleared our schedule and the Fairmont became our activity for the day. We had a lot of items to make use of for this activity and Mike wisely collected them together in order to take inventory.
After we plucked, scrubbed, washed, exfoliated, brushed, combed, tweezed, clipped, flossed and showered for over two hours, we were back baby! Hold on.... did I say in the last blog "how unnecessary showers seemed when we were in paradise!"? I must have been intoxicated by the ocean air, because on this day, the shower was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Here we are looking fresh and clean.
After our showers and hours of mindless television, two luxuries that we have missed so much, we went to the cocktail party that we were invited to as guests on the executive floor. We were told that from the hours of 5 to 7:30, we could enjoy appetizers and drinks for free. Well, they didn't mention that the appetizers consisted of a salad bar, a pasta bar, a great selection of hors d'oeuvres and deserts! We quickly turned appetizers into dinner... is this faux pas? I don't think the Fairmont knew what they were getting into when they allowed two broke backpackers into their hotel and offered us free stuff.
Once we had enjoyed some delicious wine to the last drop, we went back to our room to relax and catch up on phone calls to our in-laws, our nieces and nephews, as well as catch up on emails and other clerical items. It also happened to be Halloween in Singapore, which they don't celebrate to the same calibre that we do back in Canada. We had bought Mike a costume while on our travels in Vietnam, unsure of where we'd end up for the holiday. We knew we didn't want to go out, as the hotel was just too goooood, but we also didn't want his costume to go to waste. So we dressed Mike up as the famous Star Wars character that he is so often told he looks like, Ewan McGregor also known as Obi Wan Kenobi.
We settled in for a movie and slept in the most comfortable bed my body has ever had the pleasure of laying on.
Day 119- We became very accustomed to waking up early with the rising sun while on our trip in the Philippines and not even our ultra comfy bed could keep us asleep when the sun rose, around 6:30 am. Breakfast at one of the many restaurants at the Fairmont was also included with our stay. We chose the one with the biggest buffet and began enjoying every selection of egg, bacon, sausage, muesli, yogurt, bagels, pastries, pancakes, fruit shakes, juice, coffee, toast and even signapore specialties. I ate way to much and was full until after lunch, which was just another win for our backpackers budget!
After breakfast we went to the famous Willow Stream spa to enjoy the free hot and cold pools offered to guests. It was nice to relax and feel like we were getting pampered, even if we weren't getting treatments. Then, it was time... sadly, after 28 hours of being within the hotel walls, it was time to check out. This left us with one afternoon to see as much of Singapore as possible. It was GO TIME!!
Mike and I always find ourselves at a zoo on every trip we've ever been on and this one would be no different. We had heard that the Singapore Zoo was worth the trip, so off we went.
We bought two tickets for $32 each and it would take us around 3 to 4 hours to get through it. The parks estimate was quite accurate and with the exception of a few rain showers to slow us down, it took us about 3 hours.
We saw many beautiful animals at the zoo but I thought we'd share some of our favorites. Below is a gorgeous white tiger.
Cute little monkeys during feeding time.
The King in his den.
My favorite animal, the gentle giant. The elephant.
Our visit was cut short by heavy rain fall but it was ok because we had more to see before catching our flight that evening. Our next destination was Garden By The Bay. An incredible display of plants and flowers perfectly landscaped into two architectural skyscrapers. We had the choice between the two exhibits and thanks to the advice from a man in line, we chose Cloud Forest. Had we more time we would have visited both but we were bound by the clock. Two tickets to Cloud Forest cost us $30 dollars. When we wallked in, it was as if we entered a futuristic world ruled by nature.
I would live in that world.
I don't know much about flowers, but what I do know is that I like this one a lot.
A flower garden built from LEGO! I wonder if my little Kenadee could build this?
Color was everywhere.
And then the mist came to feed these wild inhabitants.
They even had a floor dedicated to crystals and rock formations. That's Mike in the Yellow.
Phil, Becky, what makes a georock?...
The structures on the outside of the building light up by night and apparently make for quite the show but we couldn't wait to see it as we had a 10pm flight to catch. The Fairmont provides guests with a room to shower and freshen up in before their departure. We took advantage of a few more shampoos and conditioners before we headed on our way to the airport. Singapore was good to us, it gave me my eyebrows back and Mike's beard no longer whispered sweet nothings to me at night. The asia portion of our trip was over, we were ready for the next chapter of our adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment