Having not been on a holiday with Peter's parents (except for trips to Augusta) we decided to take them away to Singapore. Not sure how they would cope with the travelling (being 88 and 85 respectively) we knew we would have to have a few plans in place! First up was Perth airport where we arranged for them to be taken to the plane first. We were able to join them and a few other elderly people to be first on...
It was a good day for flying and the views leaving Perth were great...
When we arrived in Singapore a lovely man was waiting for us with a wheelchair for Dad J - it was a long long walk to the baggage claim area so the wheelchair was more than welcome...
We checked into our motel - the Furama City and were both on the 11th floor with great views over the city and the Singapore Flyer. Peter and I went for a walk to check out our surroundings and buy a few supplies.
We were right next to some great shopping centres and had our first night dinner there...
We had arranged for a wheelchair to be delivered to our motel but Dad J insisted on walking to dinner but struggled coming back - lucky his wife of nearly 64 years was there for him :-)...
With the older travellers safely settled in their motel room Peter and I went out for a walk down Chinatown...
Next morning we caught a taxi to the Singapore Flyer - the advantage of a wheelchair was no queuing and a capsule to ourselves!...
The views over the new Marina Bay Sands were great...
Next we taxied over to the Marina Bay Sands. Wow this is an amazing structure!. The resort has 2561 rooms in the motel, a convention centre, casino, theatres, restaurants and the list goes on. The Skypark shaped like a boat that sits on top is 340 meters long and has a capacity of holding 3900 people and has a 150 metre infinity pool. We started off by just wandering into the building and observing its amazing structures. We also looked at a diamond necklace in a store (not allowed to take photos) with a price tag of $29000000!!!...
We bought tickets up to Skypark Observation Deck which was 57 floors up. First we had a professional photo taken...
The view looking down on the Gardens by the Bay and the massive Domes we visit later in the day...
As Singapore is so tiny and they keep wanting to expand they are constantly reclaiming land and filling in areas of coast to build on. They have even built a floating soccer/sport pitch...
It rained a little while we were up there but it soon disappeared. The red umbrellas are a restaurant...
Looking down on the Singapore Flyer...
Unless you are a hotel guest you cannot go to the pool area but with some zoom on the camera we can see how great the pool area looks (stopover next holiday??)...
Looking over the port area...
It was certainly a great experience being up there and surely it would stunning at night (yes I was going to find out later in the week!)...
After a short rest back at the motel we decided to go and explore "Arab St". This is a whole street that just sells fabric and rugs. Dad J stayed and rested in his room while we went. We had a good wander and I found a few bits of fabric to buy...
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| Friendly little man cutting me some fabric |
Mum J was getting a bit worn out so we had another rest before heading out again to Gardens by the Bay.This is a huge park area in central Singapore spanning 250 acres with 3 main garden areas, 2 conservatories (Flower Dome and Cloud Forest) and Supertrees Grove.
We went into the Flower Dome first. The dome is 38 metres high and is 3 acres. Its hard to get an idea with just a photo. It houses 7 different gardens and a central display area. It replicates a mild, dry climate and stays around 23 degrees...
Next we went into the Cloud Forest. It is slightly smaller but has a higher roof. This dome replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions. There is a 35 metre waterfall inside and different levels to walk around and look at all the plants...
Also these huge ariel walkways around and through the "mountain" - truly amazing structures...
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| Spot the wheelchair |
We then walked to the "Supertrees Grove". These "trees" vary in height from 25 metres to 50 metres. They are vertical gardens that perform different functions like planting and shading. They also have solar panels and catch and store rainwater.As the whole area is only fairly new I guess in a few more years the vertical gardens will cover a lot more of the structures. The tallest one also has a restaurant in it...
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| Domes in the backgound |
The ariel walkway is a great way to view more of the gardens...
At night they put on a spectacular light show with music hard to capture by photo but fantastic to watch...
Meanwhile over at the Marina Bay Sands another light show is also happening...
It was a busy day!
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