Day 2 - Never Corner An Otter 🦦

There is a lot to write about today. Whilst I posted yesterday’s log at some point today (this time zone thing has totally messed me up!), I believe I left the story somewhere in the skies above Asia.

So, the first 10 hours of the flight were excellent - no issues at all. During the last two, I began to develop a migraine and was feeling rather sorry for myself. The noise, bright lights, food smells, jet lag and turbulence were not a fun combo. I was VERY happy when we landed early and even happier that it was an absolute breeze getting through the impressive airport.

Landing at 5:30am was in many ways cruel and unusual - it was dark and definitely too early to check-in to my hotel. I toyed with various ideas, but decided to take a taxi to my hotel and try my luck.

My taxi driver was VERY talkative. He was lovely, and giving me loads of tips for my time in Singapore, but I was feeling more and more queasy as I tried to listen to him and keep my eyes on the road…. All I can say is that there was a repeat performance of my post-flight migraine on the Alabama trip (from where Phil and Daisy can attest to the fact that I am at least a very neat vommer….).

I arrived at my hotel and luckily managed to negotiate a very early check-in. It was absolutely worth every single Singapore dollar as the shower and bed felt A-MAZ-ING. I did have a very entertaining moment when the receptionist who showed me to my room tried to take my bags….. I let him take the suitcase but figured I should probably keep hold of my bag of sick myself. Niiiiiiiiiiice.

Anyway, I slept for a few hours and felt fine, so decided to watch the end of the Blue Jays game before going to the Botanic Gardens.

Usually a baseball game lasts about 3 hours. Not this one. It was an absolutely crazy game, and I was gutted when the Blue Jays lost after 6.5 hours in an 18 inning marathon. It’s a good thing the botanic gardens are open late!

I decided to brave the MRT (the underground) to get to the Botanic Gardens, and it was lovely. Everywhere is SO clean. My only complaint was that the safety video on repeat on the train got a little tiresome. It clearly worked though, as I now know that if there is an ‘incident’, to stay safe I must:

Stay calm

Assist Others

Follow instructions

Exit in an orderly manner.

The Botanic Gardens were absolutely gorgeous - it was hard to believe that I was in the middle of a capital city. Everything was so green.

Within minutes of entering the gardens, I had also made a new friend. I named this one Bill…

and this one Ted…..

I’m not quite sure what they are, so assume that they are mini dinosaurs. Sadly I did not see any monkeys or otters, but the presence of these signs made me very happy. Remember people, do NOT corner an otter.

Moving on… I stopped at a lovely cafe (called the Bees’ Knees!) for some dunch and much needed rehydration before continuing on through the gardens. The National Orchid Gardens are supposed to be a particular highlight, so I visited there and absolutely loved it. I particularly enjoyed the VIP Orchid Garden (when Heads of State or other dignitaries visit Singapore, they will often get an orchid named after them!), and found Jacinda Ardern’s orchid as well as lots of others.

A further highlight was the Cooling House - not only were the orchids pretty, but it was, as the name suggests, wonderfully cool!

There was a lot to see in the Orchid Garden - it was a great way to spend a jet-lagged afternoon.

Once I had finished my self-guided tour of the orchids, I used some geocaches to guide me through some other parts of the gardens. I went to the Ginger Garden, the Rainforest, the Sundial Garden, the Bonsai Garden…. And others I can’t entirely remember!

I did also have a philosophically significant moment when I met this guy, and did indeed ask him ‘why?’

With my 10,000 steps under my belt, and weariness taking hold, I caught the MRT back to my hotel, stopping to pick up a few snacks on my way.

After a ropey start, it has been an excellent first day in Singapore.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 - It Starts……..

Image
Having been thinking and talking about this adventure for months, today rather crept up on me. As well being a little hurried in actually packing a rucksack for up to three months of travel (I had been organised with packing lists, just not the actually putting things in a bag bit), I was also a bit last minute in tying up loose ends at home, mainly the boring things, like sorting out my car tax that I realised expired whilst I am away. It was therefore also a bit of a late night doing the really important things, like finishing the hardback book I had no intention of travelling with, and downloading some shows to watch onto my Chromebook. But, after a bit of last minute re-packing (Do I really need that extra T-shirt? Probably not. Where did I put that charging cable?), my rucksack was ready to go, and I had sorted everything I needed to in my flat. I am pleased to report that I have not left anything in the fridge that is likely to be gross on my return. Then off through the rain to ...
Read more

Day 2 - Touristing it up in Brussels

Image
The Eurostar journey was pretty uneventful yesterday. Despite looking out of the window, I did not see any fish 🐠 as I crossed the Channel, and I made sure I was on the look-out for small boat crossings too.....  It was early evening when I arrived in Brussels. The metro system took me a few minutes (and one journey in the wrong direction) to figure out, but Google Maps did its thing and got me to my hotel safely. The hotel is near the Royal Galleries, close to the Grand Place, and it is pretty busy around as apparently this is a big weekend with Belgian National Day tomorrow.  An evening quest for food (success) was followed by a walk through said Royal Galleries and then a test of my photography skills at the Grand Place. It is, as the name suggests, pretty Grand. Pleasingly for me, there were lots of Geocaching AdLabs around for me to use to learn some history. My visit here was then followed up with some good wandering around, with the highlight undoubtedly the Brussels D...
Read more

Day 3 - Happy Belgian National Day!

Image
Yesterday evening was fairly quiet - a stroll to see Jeanneke Pis, all in the name of gender equality.... and then an ice-cream and soaking up some of the holiday vibes.  Today, in case you did not know, is Belgium's national day. I had read a bit about some celebration events, some of which I am hoping to see this evening, but I did not know that as I walked to find some breakfast this morning, within 100m of my hotel I would stumble upon the whole Belgian royal family arriving for the Te Deum mass at the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral. Having previously sat opposite the Swedish royal family at a concert in Stockholm when visiting with Lizzy, I am starting to appreciate European royal families turning out for my visits.... Apparently it was King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, and their four children (Elisabeth, Eleonore, Gabriel and Emmanuel) who were there. You can read all about their outfits on the Daily Fail Online, if that's your thing.  Anyway, I enjoyed the experience, ...
Read more