Singapore

Best two things about Singapore. The Jewel Airport and the ship tower of Marina Bay Sands.

It’s also a very restrictive country and very restrictive it is. It has some pretty severe consequences for petty offenses like “no smoking” and “no spitting policies. But it is a very cool and clean place for a visit but for us it did not leave us with a yearning to return to.

That said we actually just jumped into a cab at the port and headed off to check it out.

We landed at the Marina Bay Sands first and loved not only the view from the top but the food court at the bottom. Sam found a bread “Ya Ja Gwai” she used to eat as a kid in Hong Kong and acted like a kid as she ate it! Their food court is incredible! No burgers and pizza here but every form of Asian you wanted they had!

This place has two huge towers that house a casino, a mall and a great food area. There were all sorts of dim sum and coffee options so we ate before moving on.

Sam met with a family friend Shuki for a coffee and to deliver some goodies from his brother Shimon in Bali- while Collette, Erik and I headed out to check out the far tower and bay. We started out in the Bay Area where there was a floating Louis Vuitton store and an Apple floating store and a mall inside. We saw a few digital art exhibits and then headed to the top to see that were incredible and even have the worlds largest rooftop infinity pool. You can see the city and below all the additional areas built around the project like the future forest and Ferris wheel.

Meanwhile SAM visited with Shuki who she’s known since she was around 6-7 when he and his brother Shimon shared office space with her parents in Hong Kong. She loved seeing him and we were happy to give them some alone time.

We met back up with Sam and then headed out to Bugis Street for some retail shopping. The place was packed and had a lot of stalls. Sam and Colette found bunny ears for Easter that night! Sizes in Singapore are VERY SMALL.

We then split up and Erik and I headed to the Jewel Airport and Sam and Collette headed to do more shopping. The airport is the coolest airport in the world. Coming from New York where no one every brings you or picks you up from the airport because it's such a nightmare I think people jump at the chance to bring people to this one. It has the biggest indoor fountain in the world and some crazy jungle like places like the glass bottom walk and forest areas. Imagine going to an airport as being one of the top 10 destinations in Singapore! There are you tube videos JUST about the airport!

After some lunch and Collette joining us we headed back to the ship.

It was a rainy day and while we thought it was VERY CLEAN- it wasn’t a place that “wowed” us! Sam was also really bummed as she was planning on seeing another family friend Lionel but he busted his foot requiring surgery so he wasn’t up for visitors!