Day 3 More SIngapore

 

Today started with an attempt to try everything on the incredible breakfast buffet at to VOCO Orchard. We boarded the HOHO bus to continue exploring this beautiful city. The thing that each of us noticed is how clean the city is and how helpful the people are. There is a definite difference is the social status of people and their command of English. We feeel very safe here.

First Hop Off was at Little India where they were celebrating the Pongal Festival. The streets were packed with regular weekend shoppers, tourists and people enjoying the festival. I would like to return on a weekday without a festival to get the full impact of the culture.

Chinatown was the next stop. Preparation for the Chinese New Year is in full swing. 2024 is the year of the Dragon. We visited Golden Pagoda Buddist Temple, a Buddah Tooth Relic Temple, a gorgeous building filled with the scent of incense and the sound of traditional music. Statues of Personal Guardian Dieties with boxes for offerings. I will need to do my homework on Buddhism.

Street performers, delicious smells, colorful decorations and traditional music filled the streets. Lunch was at a small restaurant that did not have any English on the menu. They did number everything to make ordering easy. I had a dry pot with beef and prawn and lamb skewers. Oh my goodness, it was full of hot peppers but after we picked them out it was amazing!!!!

Headed back to Suntac Center to meet our Night Tour. There is a huge mall attached to the center. We noted the crowds, people with bags and the Hawker Stalls. There was a cooking school, streatch studios, grocery store, bridal boutique, coutier shops, low cost variety stores, an indoor playground......... Anything that you need can be found there.

The evening tour started with a Panoramic Sunset tour. The first stop was Marina Barrage to see the sunset (it was too cloudy again). There were families having picnics and flying kites. Our guide told us that there a only a few places where kite flying is allowed. Next was Lau Pa Sat, a hawker center, to sample the famous sate and lastly to Gardens by the Bay, for the light and music show " Garden Rhapsody"

Oue exhausted group returned to the hotel and the rest is history!!!