SINGAPORE

This time it is a family vacation to Singapore.We are also celebrating dad's 60th.

As it so happens , we arrived a day earlier than the family . 

So we decided to make good use of it and stayed at Snehal's friends place.

In the evening we went to orchard road for some shopping. We didn't buy anything that day. But we enjoyed the company as well as the beauty of the coming Christmas , with the road lit up to the Disney theme. The night was brought on with a cards session.

As we got up next day , we headed to marina bay. This was the most famous hotel in Singapore . As soon as we checked in we decided to have a look around. It had a Venice like small waterbody where there were gondola rides and beautiful chandelier which you could light up with a heart or a tiara from your phone. There was a bridge from where we took pictures.

In the evening we went up to the infinity pool. It was on the 57th floor with panoramic views of the city. We watched the sunset from the pool and to our luck it rained so we practically had the pool to ourselves as the night approached. Also it has 2 Jacuzzis on the opposite side of the pool,so you can see the other side as well. The view from the pool in the night would leave anyone spellbound , as the towering skyscrapers were lit up .

Marina Bay Infinity Pool Day View

Marina Bay Infinity Pool Night View

We had a south Indian dinner at little India that day . We travelled by the metro.

Next day morning before we checked out every one except for me again enjoyed the pool  .

Then we had booked a cruise with royal Caribbean for 3 days.

As we entered the cruise , I was so happy to see my room .We had a panoramic view room . So did Dharmil & Stuti , whereas mom and dad had a room with a balcony.

I could have stayed there watching the sea all day, from my bed.

View from the Cruise Room

The food at the cruise was mouth watering, ranging from salads to khichdi. There was a vegetarian counter too,a counter for deserts , which I thoroughly enjoyed because I have a major sweet tooth and plenty of fruits.

For dinner we had booked a special my dining sit down dinner . The restaurant reminded us of Titanic with a similar ambience.

In the night there was a ice skating show, which was a first for me. It was themed on the tarot cards. The skaters twirled and swirled leaving us wanting for more.

On the second day the cruise docked at port Klang. We decided to spend the day at the cruise since we had just been to Kuala Lumpur.

We tried ice skating only to realise how tough it is.

We clicked a colourful sunset from the rear of the cruise which was also the helipad.

Colorful Sunset

In the night there was a show with live singers and dancers. The costumes, and the show the talented musicians and dancers put up was worth a watch.

The last day of the cruise was at sea. There was carol singing, foot print reading and we spent time at the whirlpool.

In the evening we saw a magic show by Australia's best illusionist.

For the rest of the days we had booked an airbnb which was near the kallang station. So after we checked into the airbnb we headed to Raffles square, and clicked pictures with the merlion and the marina bay. 

Then we did the night Safari. It was a unique concept with the tram taking us around the park in the night as we saw animals sitting in it. There were rare animals ranging from the tapir to lions and tigers  . There was a south African fire show and a nocturnal animals show. 

The day was dedicated to sentosa.  But we only managed to see the aquarium and the laser show. The best part of the aquarium was the dolphins show. Also it had jelly fishes and sharks. They even allow you to touch the star fish and sea cucumber , which we did.
The laser show called as wings of time was the ultimate I have seen so far with beautiful laser lights based on a story of a girl and boy travelling through time with a prehistoric bird. It even had fire crackers timed according to the story.

In the night we checked out Clarks quay which is where the night life is.

Our last day was at Universal. We reached before it opened .it was an amusement park with 3d and 4d rides and presentations along with the usual roller coaster rides. 

The transformers ride , Egypt indoor mummy and Jurassic park view ride ( canopy flyer) were the highlights.

Also there was a Shrek  movie and a water stunts show .We did miss a couple of rides.

We rushed to the gardens by the bay in the evening . We saw the cloud forest and flower dome. The cloud forest was a huge dome with a man-made forest and waterfall. It is as huge as ten stories approximately . Leaving you awestruck by how huge a man-made garden and waterfall can get. They have a pathway and bridges where you can walk around it. They also have stalagmites and stalactites on display . It actually reminded me of the ancient hanging gardens of Babylon. These were in my imagination somewhere near what they would have been.

The flower dome had small gardens like that of Australia or the Mediterranean. It had species of trees in that dome from different parts of the world. I had seen some of the trees for the first time.

Thus ended our last night in Singapore.

The day we had to leave for a flight we spent the morning at Jurong bird park.

 As we entered we were greeted by penguins and colourful parrots.

Then we took a tram ride across the park. We also saw the king's of the skies and the high flyers show. The kings of the skies show educated us about the endangered vultures and eagles. The high flyers show was dominated by parrots , hornbills and flamingos. The parrots showed their talking like human skills.

We also had a little bit of time as we walked around the park. With time spent at the pelican cove and flamingo lake.

It was a fun day with us wishing we had more time there. 

The journey ended with the last sightseeing at the airport. We saw the butterfly garden and the koi pond at terminal 3. The butterfly garden had colourful butterflies and flowers. Also it had a cute waterfall.

Bye Bye Singapore!!