Day 250, Singapore
Since yesterday was a family day, tomorrow’s a travel day and Valentine’s Day, we went out sans kids. This means we are free to walk as far as we like for as long as we like.
During Paul’s morning run, he came across a dragon dance. Since dragons are a symbol of luck, the longer the dragon dances, the more luck will be attracted to the community. Dragons are believed to symbolize great power, dignity, and wisdom. The dragons we’ve seen so far in Singapore have been gold.
The Singapore Buddhist Lodge was around the corner from our house and on the way to the grocery store. There were many gold Buddhas and people leaving gifts.
On the opposite side of the spectrum we decided to go to the casino to eat and gawk, not gamble. There is an entrance fee of $100 for permanent residents. Our taxi driver described the fee as a deterrent to gambling if you don’t have much money to begin with, which means you shouldn’t be there. They are happy to take tourist’s money, so we can enter for free. I grabbed my American passport, but it wasn’t the one that had my entrance stamp into Singapore. So I couldn’t prove I’m not a permanent resident. We skipped it. Instead we walked through the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. This mall has a small man-made canal where you can ride a small gondola. My favorite part of this mall were the fancy tea shops which were everywhere, and watching the dumpling makers at work.
We ate dinner at DB Bistro & Oyster Bar by Daniel Boulud. Our Colombian waiter’s wife is a nurse just a few miles from where we live in Florida. We enjoyed the entire experience.
Next we went up to the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the one below that looks like a boat stuck on three skyscrapers , to check out the view of Singapore from there.
We walked across the Helix pedestrian bridge.
Around the bay Chinese New Year’s celebrations are still going strong, even one week later. The BBQ squid was very popular, as was the band that was playing. You will see monkey motifs everywhere to celebrate the year ahead.
We listened to the band from across the bay and watched the laser light show from the hotel. We took our time walking back along the river to our house. It was a great way to end our week in Singapore.
