Friday, June 17, 2022
After an exhausting 48 hours in Malaysia, we finally made it back to the "promised land:" Singapore. To quote Drake, we "started from the bottom, now we're here," and boy we could not be happier to be out of Kuala Lumpur. We landed back in Singapore around 11:30 pm after enduring our delayed flight, made our way through immigration, grabbed our luggage, and walked through Singapore's joke of a customs clearance (it's literally non-existent). We "grabbed" a Grab and made our way over to the Park Regis Hotel located in the Central Business District downtown! We checked in around 12:30 am, and after a long day of exploration in the hellscape that is Kuala Lumpur, we were ready to rest easy in a clean hotel room. We were so exhausted that Katie didn't even take pictures of the room! All I can say is that it was a huge upgrade from what we were staying at in KL; the linens were clean, the carpet was clean, and there were no insects or reptiles within view!
Stego (aka Mike), Meg, Katie, and I decided we deserved to sleep in after getting in so late last night, and we deserved some time to recover after the past two sleepless nights, so we decided to meet in the lobby at 10 am to start our day! Our first stop was at The Food Peeps Coffee and Deli where we grabbed some good coffee and really good food! Katie swears her chicken salad sandwich was one of the best she's ever had, and I think its because it was filled with cucumbers. This girl has been dying for something cold and fresh after our meat feast throughout Malaysia! My spinach, bacon, and egg bagel was pretty good and Stego and Meg spoke highly of their acai bowl and avocado toast (they were one nitro cold brew away from completing the millennial brunch infinity gauntlet).
Following a great brunch, we made our way south of downtown to Gardens by the Bay. Gardens by the Bay is home to the famous Supertrees, tons of plant life from around the world, and a great view of Marina Bay Sands!
Our first stop in Gardens by the Bay was Floral Fantasy; Katie and I aren't huge plant people, but we really enjoyed escaping the heat and humidity to be in the air conditioning for a few minutes. Katie loved the ferns, mosses, and water features, and even told me that we needed to find a polka dot begonia to put in our home garden. We found another statue of a ripped Merlion and discovered the story behind the mythical creature. Singapore really is "the lion city!"
Next was the Flower Dome; again, we aren't big plant/flower people, so we mostly enjoyed the AC. But we did take our time walking around the indoor garden, admiring the plant life from across the globe. Katie continued to add to her plant wishlist for the future. Dad, I apologize in advance for the number of plants you will be spammed with later and asked to identify for my wife. According to Katie, you are a plant wizard.
Our last paid entry visit at Gardens by the Bay- the Cloud Forest. The first thing we noticed was the huge waterfall right in the entryway. Again, more plants, not our thing. One thing Katie and I noticed is how many pictures people took and how slow they were. Being married to Katie, it's always been "turn, look at the camera, and move on." Well, if you notice the photo of Katie in front of the Orchid Haven sign, we had to sit there for 10 minutes just to get a picture because this girl thought she was an Instagram model and needed approximately 84 photos of herself in front it. It took some convincing for Katie not to cause a scene.
The cloud forest area had a beautiful collection of orchids. I think we appreciated it that much more knowing how hard it is to care for these plants!
Following the Cloud Forest, we made a pit stop at the gift shop where Katie and I found the only pin we've seen this entire trip, so of course, we bought it. And it's not for our lack of searching! Katie started asking people as soon as we walked into souvenir shops if they carried pins, and they would all take her to the stationary...its like pins aren't even a thing in Malaysia and Singapore! We also failed to find stickers for our suitcase...guess we will have to order one online when we get home!
We also grabbed some sour gummy worms (in honor of Gram) and a really unique beer made from the citrus fruits grown in the Gardens by the Bay. This beer is only sold here in the gardens! It wasn't Katie's favorite, but still a unique experience: nothing beats walking around the gardens with a beer made from the gardens!
During our visit, the Gardens by the Bay was hosting a kid's international festival, so you know Katie had to find the Japan float! Tokyo Tower, Sakura blooms, Torri Gates and Daruma dolls: looks like home!
Our last stop in the Gardens was in the Supertree Grove. For my Crazy Rich Asians fans out there, this is where the wedding reception was filmed near the end of the movie. These supertrees are 50 meters tall and are an iconic photo spot in Singapore.
After losing 2 liters of fluid from sweat, it was time to rehydrate at LeVel 33, the world's highest urban microbrewery. This place had great views, good beer (and cider), awesome truffle fries, and easily the best hummus I've ever had in my life (Stego, Meg, and Katie all agree with that sentiment). Katie and I even bought a pint glass to add to our collection.
Since we decided that we needed to eat dinner prior to heading north to the Singapore Zoo, and since LeVel 33's entree options were a bit out of our price range, we decided to make our way to the ground floor and visit Erwin's Gastrobar where Katie and I shared a margarita pizza and chicken parmesan; they served our beers in these super cool pint glasses with a goat on it, so Katie and I were sure to snag one before we left. Nothing like "permanently borrowing" a glass in a country where you could be cained in the street for jaywalking. We love to live life on the edge.
Our big-ticket item for the day: visiting the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo! This is the first-ever zoo to offer a night ticket option! Other zoos have taken this concept and incoproated it into seasonal or special event options, but Singapore offers the Night Saari 365 days a year!
Katie and I were super excited to see some of the nocturnal animals, that regularly took naps during our numerous visits to the San Diego Zoo, be a little more active this time around. We got into the park and immediately got in line for the tram ride around the park! After the tram ride, Katie and I decided to walk the trail again, just to get a better, and closer, look at the animals.
Unfortunately, our pictures aren't of the best quality because it was so dark, but the Night Safari was well worth it seeing the animals "come to life!" We also enjoyed seeing some animals neither of us had ever heard of: like the Binturong, a nocturnal civet that is native to South and Southeast Asia. Binturongs look like a raccoon and a cat had a really large baby: these things were more like the size of two Reynolds!
One of the coolest things we got to see during our walk around the park were these two female lions wrestling and "talking" to each other. Katie and I also really enjoyed the otters and even contemplated taking one home with us. Hugo and Reynolds definitely need a sibling!
After our journey around the park, twice, it was time for the Creatures of the Night Show. We got to see tons of animals including the binturong, white raccoon, fennec fox, a few different breeds of owls. We even saw an otter correctly sort recycled waste; just another reason for us to domesticate one!
Check out a short clip Katie put together of the Creatures of the Night show:
With it pushing midnight by the time we left the zoo, we headed back to our hotel to catch some shut-eye before another adventurous day!
Saturday, June 18, 2022
The plan for today was to explore as much of Singapore as possible before checking into the Marina Bay Sands tomorrow morning. We knew that once we got to MBS, we weren't planning on leaving, so today is our last day to do everything else we wanted to do in Singapore. First on the list was Sri Mariamman Temple; unfortunately, it was undergoing renovations and there was a worship service going on, so we didn't get to go inside, but this Hindu temple looked stunning from the entrance!
After a bit of a disappointing start to the morning, we made our way over to Chinatown to find food. On our way to grab lunch, we ran across Leung Sang Hong Kong Pastries where we bought a "wife's delight" and a roasted chicken pie. The wife's delight is a flaky pastry filled with melon, almond paste, and spiced with five-spice powder. However, it did not delight my wife. The roasted chicken pie was a little sweeter than I expected, but still very good nonetheless. Overall, I would give the pastry shop high marks!
You will also notice more pictures of the murals we walked by. Don't ask me why, but Katie has a slight obsession with photographing every single one we passed by. They were pretty cool, though!
After finishing off our pastries, Katie and I were still hungry, so we headed next door to Hawker Chan, home of the cheapest (previously) Michelin-Starred meal in the world! Hawker Chan became the first-ever street food vendor to receive the prestigious Michelin star award.
Unfortunately, Hawker Chan's soy sauce chicken rice dish lost its Michelin Star in 2021, but that doesn't mean the meal wasn't fantastic. Katie and I shared one of those world-famous dishes in addition to a roasted pork noodle. I have a feeling our $6.80 award-winning meal will be the cheapest and most unique Michelin meal we ever enjoy!
After an awesome meal, Katie and I headed across the street to peruse the Smith Street Hawker Center. A "hawker" is just another name for a street food vendor; these centers get their name from "hawking" at people passing by to stop in and try their food.
I wasn't able to do too much exploring due to the smell of the durian, a spiky fruit that we have seen all over Singapore and Malaysia. The durian is known as the stinkiest fruit in the entire world; it is native to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore and it must taste divine because every street vendor in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur was selling it. It smells so bad that it's illegal to consume them on public transportation and inside public buildings in Singapore. Imagine the smell of rotting garbage on a hot summer's day...that's what durian smells like. Katie snapped a photo of a fruit stand selling Durian:
After struggling to get through the first floor of the Hawker Center, we escaped the foul smell and found The 1950's Coffee “五十年代” on the second floor. Katie and I split a Milo ice, essentially water mixed with Nesquick, and a sweetened black coffee. The coffee must have been good if Katie was willing to drink it black; the Milo ice was just okay...we could've gone without it. The best part was people watching at lunchtime- these Hawkers sell super cheap food and people get in line and wait forever for a bite!
We continued looking through the numerous shops until Katie stumbled upon a small art vendor. Back in the spring of 2014, Katie purchased a few art prints during her trip to Madrid and Barcelona. She thought it would be cool to collect prints from the places we've traveled together to hang up in our house in the future. We found a cool print of the Merlion with the MBS in the background and decided this was the first piece of our collection together.
At 2:00 pm, we made our way to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple for the only scheduled English tour of the day. The temple houses what Buddhists believe to be one of the left canine teeth of Buddha himself. The relic is housed on the fourth floor of the temple and is displayed in a monument that weighs nearly 8,000 lbs, with over 700 of those pounds being gold leaf. People aren't permitted to photograph at all on the 4th floor, so just imagine an entire room covered in gold with a glassed-in giant, gold veranda with a little tooth on a fancy red pillow in the center.
The third floor of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple was a museum with Buddha statues from all over the world. Katie and I learned that not all cultures picture Buddha as a smiling fat-bellied man; some cultures over the years have depicted him as a young peaceful man, as a wise old man with a cane, and even in a female form. You can see some of these forms below.
On the top floor of the temple is a small garden known as the Ten-Thousand Buddha pavilion where 11,111 Buddhas are enshrined. These little plaster Buddha statues are encased around the garden.
At the center of the garden is the Vairocana Buddha Prayer Wheel, the largest Buddhist prayer wheel in the world. Prayer wheels are predominantly used by Tibetan Buddhists; typically these wheels are hollow and covered in written mantras and prayers. According to Tibetan tradition, spinning the wheel has the same effect as orally reciting prayers.
Following the temple tour, Katie and I made our way back to the Smith Street Hawker Center to visit the Mikkeller Brewing stall. Mikkeller has a brewery in San Diego; where we were first introduced to their awesome beer by our friends, neighbors, and fellow NC State alumni, Megan and Grant during our year in California. We grabbed a couple of sours and were sure to send a picture to Megan and Grant, letting them know we were thinking about them nearly 9,800 miles away!
After enjoying our beers, we headed to Newton Food Center. Another Crazy Rich Asians reference: this is where the main characters eat street food when they first arrive in Singapore. Katie and I got food from separate stalls so we could try different dishes. I got butter chicken curry and garlic naan from Indian Kitchen (because I love Indian curry) and Katie got BBQ chicken wings from a Michelin-recommended stall. When I paid for my food, I told Katie that I saw the man working in the kitchen stirring the curry with his foot, so I knew it was about to be good. The curry was straight gas and easily the best I've ever had (even if it wouldn't pass American health codes) and I know Katie agreed! The chicken wings were also good, but I'm wondering how that curry didn't get the Michelin recommendation.
After eating, we walked around to check out the other food stalls; Katie found a juice stand and decided to get some soursop juice, a really sour fruit she tried for the first time in Jamaica when she attended Kelly and Jamie's wedding. Katie described the fruit as having a similar texture to that of a wet sock, and I would say she was pretty spot on. The texture was off-putting, but the flavor was great. I made sure to drink most of the juice and save the fruit for her.
Katie had read prior to our visit, that Satay was something we had to try while in Singapore. Satay is a traditional Southeast Asian dish of skewered and grilled meat. I ordered five beef and five chicken skewers from another Michelin-reccomended booth, which we quickly put down.
As we ordered the Grab to take us to Clark Quay, the nightlife area located across the street from our hotel, I noticed that my sunglasses were gone. I ran back to the table that we sat at and couldn't find them...they were in the wind. I have no idea whether I left them on one of the food trays or if they were knabbed off the table; regardless, prescription sunglasses don't come cheap and I beat myself up for being so careless with them.
After a self-induced miserable 15-minute ride to Clark Quay, we found a quiet spot to sit along a canal where Katie tried cheering me up by telling me she ordered me a new pair of prescription sunglasses from Zenni. Based on the painful smile in the picture below, you can tell that it only partially made me feel better. Sorry for ruining the night babe.
Katie and I decided to pack it in early for the night so I could work myself out of my feelings before we visit THE Marina Bay Sands tomorrow.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
At 10:00 am, we checked out of the Park Regis Hotel and headed towards Marina Bay Sands. Stego, Meg, Katie, and I decided that we were going to book a one-night stay at one of the most famous hotels in Singapore, and arguably the world. Well, the rooms are pretty expensive, ranging from nearly $600 to several thousands a night, so we concocted a plan to beat the system.
Katie booked the cheapest room available with two twin beds, so it was a tight night of snuggles for each couple, but we only had to pay half the price for the room! We all get to enjoy the experience of staying at the MBS, but at the cost of two people per twin bed, I think we all agreed it was worth it! Clearly, we aren't the international travel bloggers that get sponsored by Marina Bay Sands, so we had to do, what we had to do!
So we get to MBS at 10:30 thinking we would have to store our luggage and wait for our room to become available later in the afternoon. Well, they actually had a room available for us immediately, so we were able to get our luggage upstairs instantly! And by "get our luggage to our rooms" we mean Katie and I dropped off four giant bags with the bellhop pretending it was just us checking in, while Stego and Meg casually chilled outside the hotel "admiring the view."
With two room keys in hand, we move on to part two of our "Mission Impossible:" smuggle four people into the exclusive rooftop infinity pool. With a quick Google search, you'll see that the pool at MBS is ranked in the top 10 hotel pools around the world. So this smuggling operation has to be a success.
The plan: Meg and Katie, after changing into bathing suits in our hotel room, make their way up to the 57th floor to the rooftop infinity pool with the two room keys. They check in with the two hotel staff members who scanned Katie's app, saw their room keys, and let them in. Then Stego walked up and pretended his wife took both room keys "on accident," showed a screenshot of Katie's app, and got in.
Then I got stuck on the 26th floor without a room key to work the elevator, so Katie snuck out, came down, and rescued me. Then we walked in and played the "I don't know how your iPads say we are already in the pool" card, to which they gave us confused looks and let us in. Bingo.
Mission Accomplished.
And here's our reward:
There really isn't much to say about this other than check out the pictures. From the pool, you have amazing views of downtown Singapore and the Marina Bay down below. It's spectacular. We literally spent the majority of our day just sitting in the pool, taking in the view, and enjoying the food and drinks from the amazing MBS service team. This hotel is so fancy, they brought around complimentary ice cream cones and juices every hour. They definitely don't have those kinds of offerings at the hotels Katie and I traditionally stay at.
When I quoted Drake at the start of this blog post, it's true: we started at the bottom and now we are here. (Illegally with 4 people in a two-person room, but YOLO.) You don't read about this in your normal travel blog!
Not pictured above: the price of that poolside lunch and drink delivery. But was it worth it to live large for a day? Hell yeah!
After a few hours in the pool, a storm began to form off in the distance. Unfortunately, due to a lightning strike nearby, they made everyone clear out of the pool and stand under the shelter until the storm passed. While we were standing under the awning, a man dressed in a nice dress shirt and dress pants with arm sleeves (tats) walked by with his mask on and a small entourage around him. I gave him a puzzling look and he made eye contact with me, unsure of whether or not I recognized him. As he passed, I noticed the cross tattoo on the back of his neck and it almost confirmed my suspicions. I immediately yell for Katie to google his back tat and my guess was confirmed: DAVID BECKHAM was at the Marina Bay Sands and he walked right past me! After stalking his Instagram, I learn that he was in Singapore for an Adidas-sponsored soccer event and was staying at the same hotel as us! Unfortunately by the time I confirmed it was him, he had already made his way into the restaurant at the end of the rooftop pool and hotel security was guarding the door!
David Beckham, one of the most famous (retired) soccer players in the world, walked right by me and made eye contact with me! I was absolutely fanboying over it! I wish I had recognized him sooner and asked him for a picture! It's crazy, no one else in the crowd recognized him, but when Katie and I ran down to the edge of the restaurant and tried to get pictures of him, people began to realize who it was! Possibly due to me jumping around and loudly whispering to Katie "it's David Beckham! I made eye contact with David Beckham! He knew I knew who he was!" Or maybe they just figured it out on their own. (Katie says its 100% due to me fanboying, no doubt.)
Katie was able to snap a couple of pictures of him from a distance before he recluded back into the confines of the restaurant, away from crazy fans like myself.
After enjoying the pool for the majority of the day, we headed down to the room to change for dinner and watch the Garden Rhapsody, a light and sound show at Supertree Grove in Gardens by the Bay, from our hotel patio.
After enjoying the 15-minute light show, we headed down to the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, where we struggled to find a food court among a myriad of high-end shops, casinos, and bars. We didn't realize how much of a maze this place was!
Look at this cool water feature they had inside. They even had gondola rides inside this mall!
We finally made it to the food court, and boy was it hopping! There wasn't a seat in the house. Katie and I made a loop around the place to make a decision on what we wanted to eat, then Katie went and found a table for Stego, Meg, and me. She asked a couple if we could join them, and thinks she got a nod. Later we learned they spoke German and probably had no clue what she asked in the first place. I jumped in line for our meals and grabbed a pepper steak stone bowl and another mixed meat BBQ plate for the two of us to share.
After dinner, we headed outside to the bay to check out Spectra - A Light & Water Show. On the way to the show, we grabbed some cool pictures of the ArtScience Museum.
The ArtScience Museum was built in 2011 and is the world's first Artscience museum, featuring exclusively touring exhibits that focus on art, science, culture, and technology. The architecture of the museum is a form reminiscent of a lotus flower, hence the really interesting design.
After snapping a few pictures of the museum, we ran over to the fountains to check out the light show. We got there around 9:10 pm, but the show had already started. We were under the impression that the show started at 9:30 pm, but we stayed to watch the end of the show. Katie and I both agree that this show was better than the Bellagio Water Show in Las Vegas. After the show ended, we stuck around a few extra minutes grabbing pictures of the cityscape at night, hoping there would be another show at 9:30, but unfortunately, there was not. At least we were able to see most of the 9:00 show!
Here's a snippet of Spectra - A Light & Water Show:
Monday, June 20, 2022
On Monday morning we woke up at 5:30 am as quietly as possible, so as not to wake up Stego and Meg. Our flight leaves at 8:10 am while theirs doesn't leave until around 5:00 pm. After silently getting ready and collecting our things, we made our way down to the lobby to get some last-minute pictures before we left. We arrived at the airport around 6:45 am and boarded our 7-hour flight to Narita airport in Tokyo. Katie and I were able to sit next to each other on this flight; Katie got the window seat while I took the aisle seat. Unfortunately, Japan Airlines hasn't had a major update to their movie playlist since we took our flight to Hawaii, so I rewatched Dune & Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.
After a long flight, we landed in Tokyo around 4:10 pm; now it's time to try and make our 7:30 pm flight to Nagasaki. The hard part is that our flight leaves from Haneda airport, about 1 hour and 45 minutes away by train or 1 hour and 20 minutes by bus. With the updated COVID-19 guidance in Japan, if you visit certain countries, are fully vaccinated, and show proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours of entry, you don't have to complete a COVID spit test in the airport or complete a quarantine. Katie and I thought with these new rules we'd easily be able to make our next flight. Boy, were we wrong.
Katie and I pushed our way off the plane with the "international transfer" passengers. When the quarantine officers asked for our boarding passes for our next flight, we pleaded with them that we had to make a transfer to Haneda and they eventually let us off. Good thing we did too. We were able to get into the quarantine line before any of the other domestic transfers on our flight. After waiting in the quarantine line for nearly an hour, I discovered that our best possible airport transfer option was to catch an express bus bound for Haneda that left at 5:30 pm. The time was now 5:10 pm and we were still waiting in line to get past the quarantine officers. We still had to get through immigration, collect our baggage, and clear customs before getting out to the bus terminal. There's no way we were making that 5:30 bus. The next bus left at 5:55 pm and got us to Haneda at 7:10 pm, only 20 minutes prior to our flight departing. That absolutely would not work, we had to be on that 5:30 bus.
Mission Impossible 2: Make that 5:30 bus.
After rushing through quarantine, where they verified our COVID tests and entry requirements, we ran through immigration. Once cleared, we split up: I took off running to get our suitcase and quickly cleared it through customs, while Katie looked over a map to find the bus counter. After trying to buy our tickets at the wrong counter, we finally made it to the correct bus ticket counter at 5:28 pm. I quickly bought two tickets for the bus leaving in two minutes while Katie ran outside with our bag to keep the bus from leaving us behind! A very nice gentleman informed the driver that I was inside buying tickets at the moment and would be outside ASAP! I sprinted to the bus and we boarded right at 5:30 pm! Man, we really cut it close!
Our faces tell it all: that was a close one. Mission Accomplished- Again.
We made it to Haneda Airport at 6:45 pm, 45 minutes before our flight left. We quickly checked our bags, got our boarding tickets, then looked for a quick bite to eat before heading through security. We stumbled upon a McDonald's...look I know what you're thinking, we live in Japan and all we eat is McDonald's when we travel. Our blogs may make it seem that way, but I can count on one hand how many times we've eaten at McDonald's in the last calendar year, it just happens that two of those times were on this very trip. But food is food and those chicken nuggets hit different when you haven't eaten all day!
One of the great things about Japan is airport security. We were actually able to take our food through security and eat it right outside our gate. Can't do that in the states! We finished scarfing down our food right as they called for our boarding group. We set off for our 1-hour and 35-minute flight to Nagasaki. Along the way, Katie was able to grab some awesome pictures of Tokyo from above with the sunset in the distance.
At 9:30 pm, we had landed, retrieved our luggage, and were in the car heading back to Hario! We were so excited for the puppy love once we made it home! Traveling with my best friend is amazing, but the greeting committee when we get home is also very special.
Thanks for following along. We hope to explore more of Southeast Asia in the future. Maybe with a little less flying stress!
Until next time,
Bryan
Oh- and all the food!! Although it has made me realize it's good I'm more of a homebody. I would starve in all these countries. Especially Malaysia since I'm NOT a meat eater!
I love these adventures with Bryan and Katie! It's like reading a good book. Sitting on the edge of my seat at times, laughing out loud at others. And there's always a happy ending-which I love!