The Nerds at Number Ten: Singapore

Very belated apologies to anyone alarmed by the sudden stop - nothing sinister, simply fatigue from cramming so much activity into the final few days. From memory...

Nerdia spent a sombre and memorable afternoon at the informative, thought-provoking Changi war prison memorial, in memory of a relative who died as a POW there. To her surprise there is still a working prison up the road, which might have been part of the reason why no return taxis could be found. Waited a while at a rather hot bus stop wondering if this had been a wise decision, but all worked out fine with an interesting bus trip back to the train station.

Shop, eat, sleep, repeat. Probably lots of other fun stuff but can't remember it all now.

What a fabulous day! Packed so much Nerdia was too tired to blog last night.
Same place for congee breakfast, Nerdia picked around the cuttlefish bits but otherwise yummo. Then we took the MRT to the enormous Gardens by the Bay, next to the even more enormous Marina Bay Sands 'building'. (That noun seems inadequate for the vast construction. May revisit for a closer look if we have time.). What a wonderful place! Beautiful dense gardens surrounding the Supertrees and two Domes.
First was the Flower Dome, for at least an hour of amazement while wandering through the stunning gardens. Photos galore, may upload one or two later. Difficult to describe it all, but basically the layout is divided into zones by climate or geography and set into layers connected by sloping paths.
Then the other Dome: Cloud Forest. Wow! A hollow hill 35m tall, covered with a rainbow carpet of 'cloud forest' mountain plants, looped by walkways jutting out into space, gushing several cooling waterfalls and housing an impressive collection of stalagmites and stalactites within. (One wonders which caves were plundered for those?)
Finally the Supertrees: stunning structures housing the chimneys and flues venting the garden's boiler waste gases (as explained in detail - Singapore style - in an exhibit within the Cloud Forest Dome.) Interesting how such a hot climate still requires a huge boiler to generate some of the energy they need for this complex.)
Back on the MRT ready for the afternoon: very good budget lunches in a food hall in JCube shopping complex, then took a while to find the Science Centre. Worth it though: basically a giant Scitech, and free entry thanks to Nerdia's membership :D. 6m high fire tornado, a big suspended sphere onto which you could project 360o images of solar system bodies or Earth info like 24h of air traffic... Plane Boy was very attentive. Lots of other fun exhibits and Nerdia ran around like a seven year old for quite a while.
Next door was Snow City, a ridiculous indoor snow slope for sliding down on tyres like a tiny Arctic water park. Plane Boy watched Nerdia slide around a few times, and the cool was welcome indeed.
Back to Chinatown via the MRT for dinner at Maxwell Food Centre, a budget food hall Plane Boy was keen to try. Yummo! Cheap, crowded, local and delicious. Nerdia was planning a classic kway teo but ended up choosing a more Vientamese style beef soup with handmade spinach noodles - absolutely fantastic. Plane Boy had a delectable combination dish with pork belly, noodles, wantons etc plus a lovely fresh green coconut.
A relaxing late night swim in the hotel pool, then hit the hay. Woo hoo!

Off for a dum sum breakfast this morning, then the famous Zoo and Night Safari. :D

Realised previous entry would have made more sense if I'd mentioned the pizza joint was an Eagle Boys franchise. Ah well.
Flight was fine, being Tiger Air there were no frills of course (like screens, music, food, drinks or reclining seats) but managed to sleep a bit. Hotel had us booked for only one night (huh?) but quickly sorted that out. Room is a tiny twin share - Plane Boy's bed is a bit short and the shower is almost on top of the toilet - but is cool, comfy and right next to the lap pool so all is good.
Slept in a bit this morning, then went looking for a Singaporean breakfast. Found a crowded little food strip in Chinatown with stalls selling scalding hot congee porridge and fresh fruit juices, yummo! Nerdia even had a go at century egg... turns out once a century is enough. Then we found a fancy bakery, not unlike Japan's Boulangerie Vauge, so what could we do but have a doughnut and a pork floss bun?
Meandered around Chinatown and beyond, found some good street markets, a shop devoted entirely to Tin Tin (fingurines can be made to order for several thousand dollars) and many huge malls. Pretty steamy weather but a leisurely afternoon coffee and pitstop revived us, then it was off to a series of toy shops to stock up on Tomy train set pieces for our collection (plus a bit of toy shopping for niece and nephew, but don't tell them).
Bought public transport cards then off to Little India on the MRT. Mustafah Plaza was nothing special but lots of interesting street stalls, a colourful and rowdy temple and a delicious dinner at a streetside restaurant.
On the way back we stumbled onto nighttime Clarke Quay, fabulous! Took loads of touristy panorama photos and filmed the lunatics bouncing around in the huge bungy capsules.
Oops, today's internet allowance is running out gotta go. Roll on Day 2!