Southeast Asia -- The Singapore Days

For our big trip this past year we decided to visit Kathleen's brother Nate, his wife Amy (not pictured), and their kids, A, S and J, at their new home in Singapore, and then do a little exploring in Southeast Asia.  We found a really cheap flight on Japan Air ($630 round trip!), with stops in LA and then Narita Japan. Looooong flight (28 hours), but Japan Airlines really did a nice job of making it bearable -- except for the airplane food -- even on an international flight, Japanese food is weird (IMHO).  But there were movie screens in each seat, and a nice selection of movies.  I watched  "Their Finest Hour" and "The Post," both of which were just great movies, featuring great actors in wonderful performances, and some ok movies, like Pacific Rim and its sequel.  It sure helped the time pass. The kids were great, watching their own movies, and being very patient throughout.  All that said, it is a long time to spend in a seat, and we were not helped by being held on the runway in Narita for a few hours due to high winds, finally arriving in Singapore at 3:00 a.m. local time.   After a much too short sleep in Amy and Nate's really great apartment (see below)

we headed out for our first adventure in Singapore -- the Botanical Gardens, a World Heritage site.  The Orchids here are truly amazing, but the sheer variety of plants also knocks your socks off. Here are some pics from that excursion:

We were very grateful for the shade from the many trees planted all around.

There is a special section of the park (separate fee, go figure) that houses only orchids, but it was amazing, and totally worth it, for two reasons -- the orchids, and the ice cold air conditioning inside the booth where you bought your tickets -- priceless!

Even where flowers were not involved, the colors and patterns of the garden were just captivating.

Considering how tired and excruciatingly hot these people are, they do pretty good on the smile front. They are troopers.

As you can see, the variety is pretty stunning. The only downside, besides the jet lag of course, was the incredible heat and humidity.  I guess middle of summer in Southeast Asia we should probably expect that, but it was HOT. Mid-nineties with 90% plus humidity is enough to do a guy my age right in, let alone a jet-lagged guy my age.  But we made it through just fine, thanks to all the trees and shade. 

The upside was getting to spend more time with Amy and her family (Nate was working, but we have always loved Nate).  Here is a little of what I wrote in my journal about them after a couple of nights in Singapore: "The funnest part of our stay was watching Keegan and Alden begin to bond with A and S -- which doesn't happen at home when there are other girl or boy cousins around.  Keegan and S seem to get along fabulously.  And J is just amazing -- he literally knows everything there is to know about the Singapore Metro (called the MRT), including how to transfer and what stations you need to go to in order to any number of places. His knowledge is almost encyclopedic, and for such a little guy, truly remarkable. He reminds me a lot of Alden, who will dive in and learn everything there is to know about a subject (say "battleships" people). They actually play very well together despite the age difference -- very cute to see. A is so mature, she brought a book everywhere we went and spent any free moment reading -- she reminds me a lot of Kate at that age.  And Amy is a great conversationalist -- talks about as much as Jonah (which is saying something) but is always interesting. She gets more energy out of less food than just about anyone I know (dang near killed me, who is just the opposite, ugh).  She also does just a great job with her kids-- she has a wonderful parenting style, and Nate is always so positive, it is just a pleasure to be around them."  In short, it was just great to spend time with them, despite the heat.

Speaking of heat, after the National Gardens we did the only sensible and very Singaporean thing you can do -- headed straight to an air-conditioned Shopping Mall.  

There are a ton of them here -- it is like the national pass-time -- and they all have great air-conditioning. We did have a purpose to this other than shopping in AC however:  to sample the Amy's favorite delicacy -- Xiao Long Bao, which is inadequately described as a steamed pork bun with sweet vinegar sauce.  Here is a photo of them being made in a hawker stall that we visited later.  

It is truly wonderful food, and I ate enough of them to know.  I was also proud of Alden on this trip -- he tried so many new foods, which for a guy who has a really hard time with that, was amazing. He liked xiao long bao, and kept trying things even after quite a few turned out not to his liking.  It was a really great thing to see him branch out a bit.  Following that food, though, Jet Lag won its war of attrition against my body, and I was sucked into an afternoon nap that became nighttime nap and then some. I think others may have had fun without me later in the day, but I will never know. The next thing I remember, it was day two in Singapore.

It was raining off and on most of the day, which simply took the humidity from 90 percent to 100 percent, while doing very little to alleviate the heat.  Undeterred, we headed downtown to gawk at the Marina Bay Sands, one of the craziest hotels on the planet, I think, and then enjoyed Marina Bay Gardens, which while not quite the Botanical Gardens, had some beautiful spots.  As a side note, one of the things the rain did do was teach us how loud thunder is in Singapore -- dang loud. I don't know if it is the thick air or what, but man, you know when lightning is around. 

I really loved this colorful bamboo.

The Gardens also sport their very own version of crazy rich asians --huge artificial tree like things, that put on a light show at night.  It felt for a bit like we were on an alien planet or something.

Here is our little traveling crew, who trekked about without a lot of complaining despite the conditions.

Following the Gardens, we headed down to the Museum of Art and Science, which, inexplicably, had an exhibit about Marvel's Avengers as the hot ticket. The kids loved it anyway, and the building itself was kind of interesting.  After the exhibit, we headed to China town, to do a little shopping, and to eat dinner at one of the Hawker Stalls.  Here are a few pics of that little excursion:

This is Durian.  If you have ever smelled it, you will never forget it. But apparently people eat it, even call it the "King Fruit," despite the fact that it is so smelly (in a rotting garbage kind of way) that they have banned it on the Metro.  Safe to say, it is one "delicacy" that we did not try.

This is the china town "Hawker Stall" where we ate after touring Chinatown. As you walk in, everything in your brain is screaming "Danger Will Robinson! Danger!" as in -- you might have to eat this:

but your nose is tempting you to go ahead and dive in, consequences be danged. And so we did, and our taste buds were doing happy dances by the time we were done -- though I need to be clear that fish head curry did not get ordered--no one was that brave.

The following morning we headed down to the Museum of Civilizations with Nate and family, stopping by the famous (apparently -- who knew?) Merlion of Singapore.

The museum of Asian Civilizations was most interesting because of the "Tang Shipwreck" and its cargo, which was on full display. It was an arabic ship that was returning from a visit to the Tang Dynasty in China with its hold full of Tang Chinese wares.  Here are a few pics from the museum:

The kids were good but I think S's expression summed it up for them.  The adults found it quite interesting, though.  Following that jaunt, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, and headed for what was one of the better attractions in Singapore -- the night zoo.  Animals tend to be really active at night, and the lions, tigers, elephants, hyenas, rhinos and all did not disappoint.  Flash is prohibited, so I was only able to get one photo with my iphone, but it gives you a little sense of the place.

We finished out our stay in Singapore with an evening visit to the Marina Bay Gardens. With music playing, including Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma (a favorite of mine), we watched what only crazy rich asians could concoct -- a light show put on by giant artificial trees. 

So there you have it.  The Bailey's stay in Singapore, 2018.  All in all, we enjoyed the company immensely, and the city itself wasn't bad. A little too sterile for my taste -- kind of an Irvine on steroids -- like everything, including the entertainment, was planned by a government committee, which saps this place of the life it could have. But it was safe and clean, with good food, and the Botanical gardens and night zoo were definitely worth the trip. Next up: Hanoi and Vietnam!