Singapore sure is hot! This morning we woke up at 8:30am and then promptly hit snooze on our respective mobile phones.
This meant our ambitious plan to be waiting for the Tourist bus at 9am didn't eventuate. Instead, we didn't get to the bus stop until 11am.
To get to the bus stop from our hotel, we had to walk to Maccas at City Square Mall, then to Mustafa Centre.
The most important meal of the day was at Maccas. We thought HK Maccas had a great brekky selection - Singapore was an eye opener! The menu included cold milo and a breakfast supreme with a patti, hot cakes, bun, turkey and hash brown. Very filling!
We were waiting for the bus at Syd Alwi Rd like the tourist map said. But the bus drove right on by and turned into the next road instead. Ant figured it was because there was road works on Syd Alwi so the driver had to turn into the next road.
The Singapore Ultimate Sightseeing Pass cost sg$33 each for a 2 day pass. It gives unlimited access to 5 tours (3 buses and 2 river) and commentary along the way of all the popular attractions. It's on a hop-on, hop-off basisso it's all about doing your own thing and then hopping back on the bus afterwards. Buses run every 30minutes.
The first bus starts at 9:30am and the last bus is at 6:3pm.
From Mustafa Centre, we caught the Red Heritage Route. The route started with H###.
Our first stop was Bugis Market. This is a shopping area in a big arcade-style building. The building spanned 3 levels and was full of ladies fashion.
Besides fashion, the ground floor had snacks and there was a fresh juice stall that we absolutely loved! We tried the soursop juice, watermelon juice and lime juice. Each cost between sg$1 - sg$1.50. All were delicious!
We didn't spend too long at Bugis Market because of our late start unfortunately. I made two purchases; a blouse sg $10 and a dress sg$31.40 for work.
Aware that a bus was due to arrive soon, we raced back to the bus stop. We had to cross a major road to get to the bus stop; while we were waiting at the lights we saw the bus approaching. Once the lights turned red, we raced across the road but the bus was already pulling away. So we flagged it down. Luckily the driver stopped to let us board, but he told us not to do it again.
Next stop was Funan Digital Centre. This mall was about 5 levels and stocked full of electronic shops. Ant had a ball salivating over the latest technology. I was bored mostly and entertained myself with the free 20minute internet kiosk. These kiosks are found one very level but half were under repair. We had lunch in the Food Court. There were 6 restaurants and they all looked yummy. I settled for one that sold Chinese herbal soup. Ant had a hot plate. We finsihed with a dessert called bo bo cha cha. Tasted ok - very sweet though and we didn't finish it.
At about 4pm we were waiting at the bus stop to go to see the Chinatown. To do this, we had to go to the depot then hop onto another bus. Unfortunatly we got on the wrong bus; instead of the Red Heritage Route, we got on the Yellow City Route. This meant we went on a whole tour of the City which wasn't all too bad, but we had intended to save it for tomororw. Getting on the wrong bus meant we had less time to spend at Chinatown once we got back onto the right bus.
After the scenic City tour, which included driving past the Singapore Botanical Gardens, Embassies and the more affluent area of Singapore, we arrived at the Suntec bus depot.
We stayed on the bus for 30min while it waited for other passengers. Our intention was to see the Merlion and then go to Chinatown and the guide recommended we stay on the Yellow City Route to see the Merlion, then hop onto the Original Tour bus from there to get to Chinatown.
the Merlion is Singapore's national icon. This creature has a lion's head and a mermaid's body. There is a huge statue of it on the bank of the ocean, spitting water, on the Fullerton promenade that we went to.
Thanks to Ant's navigating skills, we found the bus stop for the Original Tour (which was not the same bus stop as the Yellow City route). We made it to the bus stop with 5minutes to spare (partly because we only spent 1minute seeing the Merlion and because the Original Tour bus was late).
Chinatown wasn't that great; it started drizzling once we got on the Original Tour bus and one stop later when we disembarked, it was pouring. So we were really sheltering under the awning of each outdoor shop. It's also when my ears started itching like they do just before I'm about to break out in hives. That concerned me but I left that to worry about later. After a quick and brief tour of the stalls, we decided to have dinner to wait the rain out.
I had the famed Singaporean spicy crab served in an egg and tomato-based sauce, some baby kai lan veggies, a seafood hot plate, deep fried chicken wings and seafood hokkien noodles. We had two cups of the yummy Singaporean tea.
We must have sat at the table for over 30min waiting for the rain to stop. To get back to the Hotel, we caught a cab. It only cost under sg$10 for the ride.
Luckily I didn't break out in hives; I only itched a little on the inside of my elbows and on my arms.
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| lunch at Funan Centre |
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| the Merlion |
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| deed fried chicken wings & mango salad |
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