{"id":689,"date":"2010-08-13T21:36:04","date_gmt":"2010-08-13T13:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/?page_id=689"},"modified":"2017-08-17T21:18:27","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T13:18:27","slug":"singapore-pg-14","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/?page_id=689","title":{"rendered":"Singapore Pg 14"},"content":{"rendered":"

There were waterfalls and fountains everywhere. Here are 2 water features that particularly took my fancy.<\/p>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Water Fountain & Orchid Display<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Child and Lillies Water Feature<\/p><\/div>\n

And the flower photos begin…<\/p>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Assorted Colours of Orchid<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - David admiring an expanse of Waterfalls and Orchids<\/p><\/div>\n

I put my hand in two of the following shots, and got David to do so in one, so you can see the size of the flowers.<\/p>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Mass of Pink Orchids<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Large Spider Orchid<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Tiny Orchids<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Singapore

Singapore Botanic Gardens - Tree Mushrooms<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s so hard to stop with those few pictures but the story must go on…<\/p>\n

David eventually managed to drag me out of there and we saw a restaurant named Villa Halia and asked to look at the menu.\u00a0 They asked if we wanted afternoon tea and we said that we wanted lunch and they were a little surprised and informed us it was 4pm.\u00a0 Ha har!\u00a0 Time flies when you\u2019re drooling over orchids!<\/p>\n

The setting here was absolutely perfect.\u00a0 The staff were very friendly, in fact, perfect and the meal was perfect.\u00a0 We were foolish ever to leave the place.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s David \u2013 thoroughly dried out now.\u00a0 The restaurant had an indoor part but we chose outdoors and they seated us in a corner so we had gardens behind me and along my right side.\u00a0 It rained a bit on and off but we had a roof and it was still beautifully warm.<\/p>\n

\"Halai

Halai Restaurant Singapore Botanical Gardens<\/p><\/div>\n

They asked if we\u2019d like garlic bread and David groaned as he knows my answer is always yes to garlic bread.\u00a0 He ordered a carbonara and I ordered chilli crab spaghettini.\u00a0 It really was excellent food and we chose really unusual herbal teas each which arrived in plungers.\u00a0 We\u2019d been offered a full tea service if we\u2019d wished, or an English \u2018high tea\u2019, but decided on the lunch.\u00a0 Eventually we had to leave and while David paid, one of the waiters sat me comfortably, they were just so considerate.<\/p>\n

Continuing with our view of the main gardens we\u2019d decided against going as far as the Children\u2019s Garden as we\u2019d first hoped.\u00a0 It was at least 2 kms further on and we\u2019d lost a lot of time with getting lost and then sheltering from the rain.\u00a0 Also, we were just about walked out I think.\u00a0 We just decided to take a different path back through the gardens.\u00a0 They really were lovely.<\/p>\n

On the way back past the large hospital it was still drizzling and one man stopped me, laughing and saying \u201cThat really is the cutest umbrella I\u2019ve ever seen!\u201d\u00a0 I had another person later that day do the same thing and David loved watching as it brightened so many people\u2019s days.<\/p>\n

We checked the map carefully and managed to get back to Orchard Rd the short way and on along, looking at shops, and under that blasted underpass – this time faultlessly.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t repeat it if you paid us but at least we\u2019d done it once!<\/p>\n

One jeweller\u2019s window we looked in had a pair of emerald and diamond earrings which were priced at $250,000.\u00a0 There was a matching necklace with about 4 times as many jewels as the earrings but no price showing.\u00a0 I shudder to think!<\/p>\n

We went all along Orchard Rd, mostly with Mr Penguin up, stopping in a few shops until we reached Singapura Plaza at the far end of the main shopping strip.\u00a0 And here, we saw what we were looking for \u2013 jewellers with discounts.\u00a0 I\u2019d had birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and had decided to spend it on a gold anklet which is something I\u2019d wanted for a very long time.\u00a0 Not only did this jeweller have a 50% off sale, but they gave us a small bottle of water each as we went in which was really welcome!\u00a0 I tried on and bought a gorgeous white gold anklet with the birthday money from the 2 mums, plus David made up the extra as he hadn\u2019t really bought me a gift yet.\u00a0 And not only did we get it for half price but we got a tax rebate at the airport when we left as well.\u00a0 Definitely a nice bargain, and a souvenir to boot.\u00a0 It\u2019s a delicate chain and has 3 tiny white gold hearts with little facets that make them sparkle and 2 tiny yellow gold stars that have dents to make them look facetted, but they\u2019re not.\u00a0 I love it anyway.<\/p>\n

I tried to take a photo that would show the height of the shopping centre as we\u2019re only accustomed to 2 floor shopping centres here – other than in the city and we never go there.\u00a0 Even in the city the most floors you\u2019d see with a void like this would be perhaps 4 floors.\u00a0 This one has a 7 floor void!\u00a0 I believe there were also 2 basement floors but we did not get the chance to look.<\/p>\n

\"Singapura

Singapura Plaza - Seven Floors of Shopping<\/p><\/div>\n

From Orchard Road and the Singapura Plaza we walked once more, and with heavy hearts, to Clarke Quay for our last evening meal in Singapore.\u00a0 After much walking up and down and discussion we decided to eat at the Bayang Balinese again.\u00a0 Our first meal at Clarke Quay had won the prize of us wanting to revisit.\u00a0 We decided on the same shared entree assortment and David chose chilli beef, while I had a veggie plate and of course a Sing Sling.\u00a0 It was a lovely meal and we dawdled over it, watching the activity outside the window of all the other restaurants and the many people mulling by.\u00a0 It made no difference as to the day of the week down there, it was always busy.\u00a0 As we paid, the waiter(?)\/manager(?) remembered us from our first visit so that was really nice.<\/p>\n

During the holiday we certainly noticed that we (as Caucasians) were very much in the minority.\u00a0 It got after a few days that we were noticing when we saw any others.\u00a0 And that\u2019s never a bad thing for anyone to learn.\u00a0 I would guess that the natives were perhaps 60-70% Chinese origin and the rest Indian.\u00a0 It was certainly noticeable that the Indian men seemed to be the physical workers as in builders etc.\u00a0 The way they were transported made our eyes pop out.\u00a0 Seated in the back of small tray back trucks, presumably along benches on either side, and sometimes many more crammed in the middle. \u00a0In Perth nobody is allowed in the back of a vehicle like that and every passenger has to have a seatbelt.\u00a0 We were told that the rules are changing in Singapore and that a canvas roof will be required on these vehicles.\u00a0 Not a lot of protection in an accident!\u00a0 I felt sorry for the men, after a hard day\u2019s work going home like that, even in the rain.<\/p>\n

\"Walking

Walking Route the day of the Botanic Gardens Tour<\/p><\/div>\n

Anyway, after our meal could be dragged out no longer, we dawdled home along the quay side for a total distance of 15 kms walked that day once more, and watched TV.\u00a0 The golf was over but David managed to find some golfing highlights LOL\u00a0 The last time we watched golf was on our holiday in Adelaide so it\u2019s not as if we\u2019re fans.<\/p>\n

Next page\/…<\/a><\/p>\n

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There were waterfalls and fountains everywhere. Here are 2 water features that particularly took my fancy. And the flower photos begin… I put my hand in two of the following shots, and got David to do so in one, so … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":475,"menu_order":14,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-689","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=689"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3891,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/689\/revisions\/3891"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}