Today we had no commitments during the day and so there was no need to set alarms. It was after 8:30am before we went down to the restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel for a buffet breakfast. There was an excellent range of options available. However, the service was slow - I waited ages for my omelette to arrive.
During breakfast we noticed that it was raining heavily outside. The forecast was for thunderstorms clearing with a maximum of 32C. Currently it was only 23C.
Mid-morning we set out to go to Chinatown. We'd only gone a few blocks when we came across a religious ceremony in the street. One lane of the two-lane road was cordoned off for the ceremony. There were several men in religious clothing singing and a small group of people standing behind him in civilian clothing.
On closer examination, they were outside a temple complex that stretched for the full depth of the block. A sign indicated that it was a Taoist centre.
A few blocks further on, we came across the entrance to Chinatown. As we walked through the streets and stalls, a man came out of a photographic shop and tied to sell me a fancy new lens for my camera. Initially the price was $480 and by the time we walked away, it had come down to $290. I didn't feel the need to add the weight of another lens in my camera bag.
Suzy was busy looking for things to buy and so I left her to shop in peace and set off to go back to the hotel. I hadn't gone very far when I stumbled across a magnificent Buddhist temple. I joined the throng that was going inside.
Apart from tour groups and individual tourists like me, there were devotees praying. There were large rooms with Buddha statues and very ornate and elegant decor. Like me, there were plenty of people taking photos inside and outside the building.
For lunch, we initially looked at the building across the road from the hotel that had dozens of food shops selling Asian food. Suzy decided that we'd had enough Asian food and would prefer to eat in air conditioning rather in the hear and humidity. So we went to Costas Cafe next to the hotel - it was pretty ordinary.
Mid-afternoon we decided to go to the Skyway in the Gardens by the Bay. We caught a taxi there rather than trying Uber again. It took less than ten minutes and we were there soon after 4pm.
People had told us about Gardens by the Bay but I hadn't realised how big it was and how much there was to see there. We were only there for a short time but I'm sure you could easily spend all day there.
One of the features in this area is a set of about a dozen "trees". Each tree is a concrete tower surrounded by a steel frame that resembles sinews or vines - it's probably designed to look like bark. The structure fans out at the top like the branches of a tree. At the top of one of these structures, there is a circular restaurant.
The skyway is a walkway that is suspended on steel cables between some of these trees. Once you buy your ticket, you get an elevator up to the walkway. As you get out of the lift, there is a sign warning you not to go any further if you have heart problems, high blood pressure, scared of heights, feeling dizzy and a number of other issues.
As you walk along the walkway it bounced slightly and it's a long way down. One little boy was all bravado at first but later was begging his parents to go back. On the other hand, the view is great and well worth the trip.
Apart from the view of the city, you get a great view of the triple towers of the nearby Marina Bay Sands complex with the "boat" on top. Below you see the gardens and in the other direction you see the big ships off shore.
Down the elevator at the other end and back on terra firma, we went for a walk through the gardens. The highlight was the river and the big artificial water lilies. There were plenty of photo opportunities on the skyway and on the ground.
After walking through a grand subway under the roadway, we found ourselves outside the towers and caught a taxi back to our hotel.
Along the way, our driver was telling us that Singapore was a third world country 20 years ago and is now a first world country. He said taxes are high but there is no corruption and the money is well spent on making the city clean and well maintained.
Suzy's Accor Plus card gave us two free drinks and so we went upstairs to the roof-top pool bar at 6:30pm to have our drinks. She'd booked a special promotion dinner in the hotel's restaurant on the ground floor for 7pm.
Earlier in the day, I'd gone downstairs to ask about the conditions on the promotion that qualified for a free bottle of wine. When we arrived at dinner, he told us he'd got it wrong and offered us us each a free glass of wine instead. It was a very good meal.
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