Monkey Mania

Exploring the rainforest in MacRitchie Reservoir

Much excitement we found monkeys!

Monkey! (Long-tailed Macaque)

Merlin, the symbol of Singapore

Gorgeous in their matchy matchy outfits,
I want to do this!

Last lunch, egg rice, sweet and sour fish and beef noodles

Nicest bunch of tourists we have met

Our matchy matchy photo shoot

Enjoying the lightning storm from the bridge
 with 100's of other happy toursits

Supertrees at Garden by the Bay
ready for light show

Armed with much google research and a hand-drawn map we are off to MacRitchie Reservoir to try and find monkeys. I rate we have a 50/50 chance. The lovely Conrad concierge speaks to the taxi driver and gives him directions to the exact spot we want to start this mission.

We are here, there is a brown sign to a nature trail, let's go down this path, there are lots of people exercising, this is it, let's go. A few steps in whats that? There is a screech high in the trees, oh my, its monkeys, the plan has worked! They are very high up in the top of the trees, there's another, and another, they jump between trees, there are big ones and small ones, all doing their thing oblivious to us and the early morning joggers below.

Time to calm down and move on and explore a bit more of the jungle, I tell Beck to look out for snakes, she is not too sure if I am joking or really mean it. On we go, its much cooler in the shade of the trees, I know there is a boardwalk up here somewhere, through some mud, chase some small butterflies and we are at the boardwalk. It just keeps getting hotter and hotter, time to head back. 

It’s a well-made walkway, the vegetation is so lush, for Beck is just like being in Queensland to me its a novelty. We meander along chatting and snapping, keenly looking for more monkeys and wildlife. Oh oh, I must have taken the wrong track we are on the wrong side of the reservoir, time for a break lets have one of those apple danishes Beck has stashed in her backpack. Its good to stand still for a while the heat is oppressive. A group of oldies power by on their morning walk (age is relative) and politely suggest that we put our food away or we will be attacked by the monkeys. The nice man also says if the monkeys come to not look them in the eye. I am playing it cool with Beck. But what the hell? These little things attack? Its time to head back and get out of here.

A few more steps down the path and another bunch of monkeys emerge. Did they smell the food or is it a coincidence? I feel like running but decide to stay at a distance and get a photo. I tell Bec if the monkey attacks make sure you video the event :) Thankfully they decide to just stay in trees about 3 metres above us and dance and play. One leaps mid-air from one tree to the next. So we move in closer to watch, amazing!

Back to base and its time to visit Merlin, check out the opulence at the Fullerton Hotel, love the cake bar and have a wonderful experience with a bunch of Indian guys who wanted photos with Beck they were lovely and it was a lot of fun. I am madly taking photos of them taking photos. People just kept arriving from nowhere to join in the fun. Another pick and mix lunch, this time its sweet and sour fish, beef noodles and egg rice, plus two strange but refreshing tea drinks. A little bit more shopping and packing then its time to say good-bye to Beck. Sob, after 5 days of shared fun my awesome travel buddy has to return back to reality. I will miss you, not crying now.…much.

Time for a shower and then let's get going again. Following the ‘Jane Smith School of using public transport,’ I master the MRT and hop on down to Marina Bay Sands, explore the shoppes miss a torrential storm and have some dinner. Now I am perfectly timed for the main event of the evening, the light show in the Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay, magical!

Sunshine in Sentosa

Travelling to Sentosa on the cable car

Conquered our first run,
waiting to go up the chairlift
for another go

Ready to go

Wait for me Beck!

Silso Beach from the fort view 

Looking out to the Singapore Strait

My choice, frozen mango yoghurt,
dipped in dark chocolate and smothered in hazelnuts 

Eating mangos and mangosteen
over the bathroom sink, YUM

Ahhh, we can breathe now....

Beck is in charge of dinner tonight,
a selection of different foods from different stalls,
my favourite is the shaved noodles

Another glorious day in paradise, its 8:30am in the morning and the sun is burning on the way to get Beck’s morning kopi (coffee). Today we are venturing further afield to the adventure island, Sentosa.

Sentosa is the playground of Singapore and fun for kids of all ages, our chosen death-defying activity is the luge. Helmets donned we set off down the first timers lane for our briefing. Forward to stop, back to go FAST, I think I can do that. Let’s go. Brmmm, brrm, picking up speed, sign to the jungle track veer right, its a corner, lean, ok, overtaking a slow-moving Indian lady, now going by a 10-year-old kid, Beck yells go faster, faster, whoosh we made it, that was fun.

Now up in the chairlift in the burning hot sun to have another go, and then another. On the final lap we ask the guy which track is the hardest and he tells us to head for the expedition, we wait for a big gap and we are off, singing ‘everything is awesome, when you are part of a team’, faster and faster we go, the signs say slow down but Beck just keeps yelling go faster and we pick up quite a bit of speed, alas the track ends and we need to put on the brakes and return our helmets. That was fun!

Now onto the beach and then some exploring amongst the palm trees, find a fancy hotel to rest in with some aircon, ice-creams, beers in the street (again), amazing views from Fort Silso and crossing a bridge to a little island to see up close the hundreds of container ships in the Singapore Strait.

The container ships have fascinated us since flying in and seeing them dotted all over the ocean, more than 2000 ships go through the strait each day. The strait is 105 km long and one-quarter of the world's traded goods from oil to Pokemon toys travel through. Some ships will shelter in the straight before they arrive at their destination as ports around Asia are at capacity. Interesting article, What a Singapore Strait traffic jam says about the world economy.

That's enough heat for one day, back to base we go and into the pool. To annoy the other guests with a bomb whilst goproing. That brought the body temperature back to normal.

Foodie Heaven (and more beers than I have ever drunk in my life)

Early morning hair styling

Hawker Centre food, I liked the black carrot cake the best,
 Beck liked the fried oyster omelette 

Lots of things you are NOT allowed to do in Singapore,
 like chewing gum, but you can drink beer in the street,
I had more beers in one day than
I have drunk in my entire life :)

Durian

First taste of Durian

Finale - shaved ice wonders

Street mural plus silly tourist

Raffles Hotel

Singapore Sling and Teetotaler

Can we stop taking photos and drink? Never!

The sun is rising and I am eating Marks and Spencer muesli with Aussie milk, another multi-cultural Singapore experience?

We have a new friend to make today, Gerry a local Singaporean with a passion for food and local culture. Born in the 70’s as Singapore started to build itself into the powerhouse it is today Gerry has grown up as his country has evolved.

We arrive in Chinatown and head straight down a dingy lane, past food shops and into a hawker centre. The centres grew out of traditional food stalls on a street and serve local foods to locals. Gerry finds us a seat and then goes off to get food, what will he come back with? The first to arrive is fried oyster omelette and carrot cake (not like out carrot cake, its made with daikon), then off for beers and more beers, and roast pork (from Michelin rated stall) and on it goes, I am trying it all. But NOT the chilli, Beck is tucking into every flavour and is in foodie heaven. We attract a bit of attention being the only tourists here, everyone comes by to see what we are eating.

Eventually, it is time to move on to the people place, lots more crazy food stalls to tantalise the senses, an MRT station in the middle of the street and now what I have wanted to try forever, Durian. It is a large fruit covered in spikes and has covered fruit that has a repulsive smell, people are banned from taking on public transport. We have to put on plastic gloves so the smell does not sink into our hands. Cameras ready, bite, ok, not dying, hmm, what is it like? Well weird texture, not sure, ok, maybe like a custard apple.

People are pouring into the shop to get their durian, it's a very popular fruit. One family get a whole  Durian and it costs $140. Gerry explains that there are different grades of flavour and intensity, thankfully we had a mild version. Next, we cleanse the palate with mango and then as we did not know what Mangosteen was we get to try it. Gerry expects us to open them ourselves, we have to turn upside down, squeeze and then pop, purple juice and white flesh are revealed. This is delicious and refreshing a perfect Singapore treat.

More exploring, loving these murals, shops, more Asians wanting photos with us and then one more place Gerry is leading us to have a shaved ice. I wonder what that is? We are whisked in by the “aunties” ladies who run the shops to a seat and the grand finale arrives, Chendol Snow Ice covered in Gula Melaka (brown sugar type sauce). Divine!

After hours of conversation on everything from the fake news bill just passed in parliament to how to use chopsticks with communal food, it is finally time to say goodbye to Gerry.

Our next stop is the Buddha Tooth Relic museum, beautiful, traditional looking however this is the first shrine I have ever visited with lifts, air-conditions and two levels of underground parking. I am so hot now I could burst, lets hop in a taxi and move on.

Ta-da, ta-da we are here, Raffles, is nearly finished refurbishment however the Long Bar is open and doing a roaring trade, Singapore Sling anyone? Peanut throwing anyone? Yes, please!

Everything is Awesome

It's going to rain, plus twister near the building

Start of Scooter tour, before the
 horrendous storm

End of Scooter tour at F1 pit stop

Flower Dome

Cloud Forest

Taking time to smell the orchids, divine!

Great views every way we look

Cloud Forest

Supertrees

Top of Marina Bay Sands
with cocktails to watch the sunset

What a day, so much ground covered, I don't know where to start this story so let's start with a summary. To quote Beck's facebook post (written as she was falling asleep in the bath)

A feast for the senses today. Over 13hrs of almost non-stop moving. Seeing a twister, massive electrical storm, bucketing rain whilst zooming around on an electric scooter, local secrets, Gardens by the Bay, supertrees, marina bay sands, cocktails, amazing food, light shows and 500+ photos not to mention Catherine’s video footage and more. Am shattered so a small selection of pics - more to come when I can keep my eyes open.

The highlights for me:

• twister over the bay
• scootering in a massive storm and loving it
• all the extra places Richard our scooter guide took us to because he could and we were up for it, including Marina Barrage and the F1 racetrack pit stop
• finally getting to Gardens by the Bay after all those years of seeing photos
• having a travel buddy that likes photos as much as I do and says yes to anything
• letting our nose and Beck's senses guide us to the top of Marina Bay Sands for cocktails (mine was a Double Happiness) and dinner as the sun set
• checking out the beautiful and not so beautiful people in the infinity pool
• hanging out with a couple of Japanese girls to trade stories of travel in very broken English
• singing 'Everything is Awesome' (think Lego movie) all day and enjoying it!

I may or may not come back and add in the full day. Let's see what happens.

From 5 to 35

A chilly 5 degrees in Campbelltown

Bec's Birthday Surprise

After many work trips together our first holiday!

She has no idea what she is in for

One of the birthday puzzles, match the
hawker centre food picture with name

Amazing flying over Central Australia
and then the clouds over the ocean

The Jewel at Changi airport that just opened,
the biggest indoor waterfall in the world

Using the Hilton Honours app to enter room

First glimpse of city lights

Its 35 degrees now, Marina Bay Sands
looks like a spaceship from the future

It’s a balmy 5 degrees and time to get on the train that takes me to the plane. I am heading north but first a stopover in Brisbane to pick up my travelling buddy, Beck. It's her birthday and we may have a surprise or two in store for her. 

We are off into the big blue sky and first need to cross Australia, through outback Queensland we go, then across the centre, everything is red, with salt pans and strange rivers its all quite magical. 

But I can't keep looking out the window as there are ‘presents’ to unwrap. What do you give a girl that has everything and you need to keep her occupied for 8 hours? Well, weeks in the planning with help from the rest of the Step Two crew Beck has to roll a dice and unwrap each present challenge:

• Share a story from her 21st birthday
• Watch the movie Crazy Rich Asians (set in Singapore, we actually did not get time to watch it)
• Learn three words in Shinglish
• Match the hawker centre meal with the name

….and on it goes…..

The plane trip has many firsts for Beck including, birthday flight, holiday totally planned by someone else (she could live to regret that), overpacked and more.

By now the Qantas staff are clued into the birthday celebrations and we get lots of attention and gifts including bottles of wine, pj’s, amenities packs. That was a very quick 8 hours and before we know it we land. 

My big first for today is this is the closest I have ever been to the equator. The funny thing is only 10 months ago I was the furthest I have ever been from the equator, at the top of the Isle of Skye in Scotland. And the temperature was the same that day - 35 degrees!

We check in, dump bags and head out to explore, lots of happy relaxed people, shops, shops, shops, magical lights around the bay, boy racers in fancy cars, can't wait to explore more.

Finally, we get back to our blissfully air-conditioned room and find a cake with Happy Birthday, the day that just keeps giving.