2015 Vacation Day 3 - Singapore

Agenda for the day is lunch with the wife's friends at the No Signboard Seafood Restaurant at Esplandade. We learned our lesson from yesterday, so left a bit early today. Walked around the Esplanade lobby and the bay. The whole place is transformed since I was last here. Back then, the whole Marina Bay Sands area was still under construction, so no Helix Bridge, no ArtScience Museum, and no Marina Bay Sands. Didn't really get to appreciate the lunch, as I was minding the kids, and not really a seafood fan.

Post-lunch, we walked past the Esplanade Outdoor Theater, then The Float@Marina Bay floating platform and grandstand, the Youth Olympic Park, The Helix Bridge, past the ArtScience Museum, into The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Welcome change from the stifling heat outside. Even better since there's Santa's Village on the ground floor skating rink. After that, we had snacks at the DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe. Nice decor, expensive food. We had chicken nuggets and fries and chicken hotdog and strawberry drink and iced chocolate - all for SG$40. The kids enjoyed the ambience, so can't really complain.

Next stop - Gardens by the Bay. We were planning to buy tickets to Flower Dome and Cloud Forest online, but didn't anymore out of laziness. The thinking then was that the Gardens has been around for a few years already, and we don't expect that many visitors. WRONG! The whole place was packed with people lining up to buy tickets. On one hand, I want to go to the airconditioned observatories to escape the heat. On the other hand, I don't want to be queuing for hours this late in the day. My next option is that SG$3 shuttle service. Talking to the harassed lady at the counter, she assured me that shuttle only makes designated stops at the Conservatories and the Visitor Centre, and does not actually go Supertree Grove, while the kids amused themselves. I really wanted to catch the 7:45pm Garden Rhapsody light and sound show, but the wait is going to be too long. By the time we decided to get on the OCBC Skywalk for a 15-minute walk among the trees, the queue at the ticket counter has stretched to infinity, and the next viewing session is another hour later.

around the gardens. In the end, we just sat under the

At this point, we decided to go to the Singapore Flyer instead. Passed by McDonald's. Another inifity line stretching out from the entrance. Good thing there's a Café Crema next door where we got some drinks and pastries. After the snacks, my youngest promptly dropped off to sleep. There goes the Flyer. Sloshed our way through the crowd, all the way to Bayfront MRT, then home.