Singapore: Where the Mermaid meets the Lion!

Now we're a couple that leaves no opportunity to add feathers to well beaten travel cup. We were traveling to India after four long years and when we learnt that we were to transit via Singapore for eight hours, how could we not step out a tad! This travelogue now would be very short as there's no day 1, day 2 & so on. But, nonetheless it's a whole new country check marked.

All aboard the boat!

Day 1-cum-Curtain Fall

As they say that time is now split into two parts, life before covid and life after covid. That being said, during before covid times, Singapore allowed visitors transiting for more that seven hours to exit the airport and travel around. Post covid, my DH tried yo find out if this was still valid but, unfortunately the information remained fuzzy and unknown. Luckily for us post covid normalcy was back in place.

Information - instead of the previous 7 hours, now one must have 8 or more hours of transit to exit the airport and tour Singapore. Also, reaching the airport 3 hours prior to one's departing flight is recommended. However, I would say 1.5 - 2 is more than sufficient. Though, Changi itself is a great airport so extra time is never a boredom.

It takes water to kindle energies!

A little tired after our 17 hours looooong flight from Los Angeles, we quickly got some foreign exchange, fueled with some snacks from Mamma's treasure trove backpack and were soon at the immigration kiosks. Rupkatha and Abesh finger printed for the first time with amazed expressions. 😀 We hailed a taxi from the taxi stand right outside the airport and were soon on our way to the Gardens by the Bay.

The self organization, the discipline all around amazes one. The smoothness with which things function seems like a massive domino going on. Hats off!

Our taxi driver was friendly and chatted telling us about local life all the way thru. It was about $26 (Singapore dollars) from the airport to the Gardens by the Bay. We decided to visit the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest (as recommended by the stewardesses in our previous flight).

Information - as of November 2022, it costs about $55 for foreign adults & $40 for foreign kids (Singapore dollars) to enter both the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest combo.

The kids looked like drooping flowers in need of some watering, so DH (despite detesting fast food) decided to stop at the McDonalds to water our little flowers. Burgers, hash browns and wraps down, our little flowers bloomed again and set off trotting first to the Cloud Garden.

And lo and behold, what a place it was! It's an entrance as grand as it can get. A multi layer huge waterfall welcomes you with flowers all around. And an added bonus was the Avatar theme going on when we visited. Blue characters and creatures from the movie was all over the venue. The energy levels went higher with the kids just seeing the huge waterfall. Our 7 year old Rupkatha was especially excited to see all the massive Avatar replicas all over. 

Finding joys in the Blues!

Like zoos and animal interaction houses, they even had people come out with Avatar animals telling kids (& any grown up who'd listen) about their habitat, babies & food habits. It was cute watching how all the kids' faces were torn between disbelief and believing. 😍 The different floors offer different experiences from the crystal stalagmites of the Crystal Mountain (not to mention a Avatar dinosaur and it's baby perched there as well - something out 6 year old Abesh loved) to the rare flowers and plants at the Secret Garden. Don't miss the birds eye view of the bay in front from the Cloud Walk right at the top. 

Two must do are the Fire Hall on the ground floor and the Cloud Forest Theatre. Both are examples of technology at its best performance. The fire hall has walls made of massive screens which one can dance in front of and it adds sparks in the shadow of the dancer along with cutest little tail as well. The kids especially had a gala time dancing in front of the screen-walls. Next, is the theatre. We walked thru a long veil of lights hanging from what felt like the darkening skies above (it was still day outside). It was really like being in a parallel universe or one of those Disney movies. It leads to you a room where not just the walls but, also the floor is some kind of a massive touch screen. The kids went bonkers with joy as they ran all around the room with light wisps at their steps, with planets at their feet and what nots! Truly, for those few moments one is transported to a world of their imagination and beauty. It was an experience in itself! (little videos are tucked in at the end of the write up - glimpses of the marvelous time we had).

The always on the go kiddos! 

With that we bid bye bye to the Cloud Forest and made our way to the Flower Dome right next to it. And lo and behold, it was a place which justice to its name in every single way. Christmas being around the corner, the garden was adorned with Christmas and Holiday decorations. From NutCrackers to Christmas trees, from reindeers pulling Santa's sleigh to smoke chuffing from Mrs. Claus's kitchen chimney. Once more we stepped into a fantasyland allowing the weary minds to forget the stresses of the world otherwise. 

There were all possible colors and yet it was all so aesthetically landscaped. They even had my favorite flowers - yellow chirpy sunflowers tossing their heads away to glory. 

There were cacti gardens too - and now that our home in in SoCal, something that always reminds us of home. 😃

Blooming with Happiness!

With that it was time to say adieu to the Gardens of the Bay. Maybe one day we'll stop by again! 

Fatigue got the better of me unfortunately by then, and despite having plans to visit some local food markets, I couldn't drag any longer. Instead we decided to go a place called the Jewel (again, recommended by the stewardess on our flight earlier). It's adjacent to the airport (actually a stone's throw from the T3) and offers many options for foodies. We chose a restaurant called Soup Restaurant and soon were seated. We ordered a multi course meal which included fried rice, their house root and pork soup, a pork dish and collard greens. Wanting to explore, we also ordered their chicken with Samsui Ginger sauce. Special mention to their soup & Samsui ginger sauce - they both very unique, delicious and worth the experience. 

We walked around the Jewel a bit, saw yet another massive waterfall and then beelined for T3 from where our flight Delhi was to leave in a couple of hours. T3 itself is a wonderful airport to be at and transit through. We walked around window shopping and looking at all the lights and Holiday decorations all around. Seated at our gate, my DH (as always) disappeared. 😑😃 A little later he trotted back with little decorated jewelry boxes for our daughter and me and a Merlion keyring for our son; not to mention the pineapple sweets that waited to be tucked in on. 

And so was Singapore! As Abesh later said "we've stepped on another new land"! Hoping for more such long transits and little adventures.