Singapore

A last day in Singapore - no blue skies this time but still very hot and humid. My flight yesterday was stuck in a traffic jam in the sky due to thunderstorms and I got to the hotel fairly late.

Today I visited some places I missed last time including the National Museam of Singapore, where I learnt some history, Raffles Hotel (though not the famous Long Bar as there was a 30min wait to get in the door!) and the Merlion statue. The merlion is a mythical beast invented by the Singapore tourist board in the 1960s! 

I also went to the Flower Dome, supposedly the world's largest greenhouse. There are several permanent gardens but the best bit by far was the temporary display of sunflowers set in Jaipur. I've always associated sunflowers with France rather than India but there you are! There were plenty of marigolds thrown in for good measure and it reminded me of my trips to Nepal.

The Gardens by the Bay are under construction for an upcoming Winter Wonderland (Christmas decorations are already appearing in the streets) and gone are the United Buddy Bears and all the lovely Chinese lanterns and structures. Large areas are cordoned off whilst the Christmas Markets are constructed. I'm so glad I got to see the gardens in September when it really felt magical. 

The evening light show was still on though with musical theatre as the theme. After that there was another special show depicting the aurora borealis which was created with light, sound and what I assume was a lot of dry ice. What a lovely and memorable end to my travels. 


It's beginning to look not much like Christmas 



One of the gardens had Alice in Wonderland statues. Always nice to see an old friend.



The Fullerton Hotel


The Raffles Hotel







Goodbye Singapore! 



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