After three long years we are saying farewell to Australia for six weeks! Travelling to Portugal, Morocco and Spain – wahoo!

First stop was the beautiful Brisvegas* airport where we are boarding the flying Kangaroo to Singapore with our friends Pip and Dave. A great (but delayed) flight had us landing in the “Lion” or “Garden” City about 15 hours after leaving home. One of my great discovers on the plane was that the sadly underrated 1980 space opera superhero film “Flash Gordon” made the Qantas movie classics list. I’d like to think that Alan Joyce takes a personal role in choosing who made the list and who didn’t and that the appeal of a Lycra clad Sam J Jones and that fab scene where someone throws him a footy to spur him into action was just too much for Mr Joyce to resist.

Oops now back to Singapore …following the advice of our advance party Robyn and Vic rather than taking a taxi we caught the train (MRT) into Singapore City and our abode for the night. I’d have to say that the experience of using public transport was really great here in Singapore. It was simple, no tickets required just a scan of the credit card and off we went. We of course had the advantage of having our very well organised and ace navigator with us Pip, to ensure that we got where we wanted to go, when we wanted to be there.

Given that this stop was just over 24 hour we decided that sleep was entirely overrated and that we’d make the most of our time here and headed toward the Marina Bay precinct. Sadly we were too late to go up to the viewing platform at Marina Bay (the SkyPark Observation Deck) it closed at 9.00pm but the locals still put on a great light display for us for which we were really grateful.

Not only were we too late for the SkyPark but many restaurants in the Merlion Park precinct stopped taking food orders at 9.30 pm. I guess it was a Monday night but it was a little surprising – you got it a rookie mistake. As we had resigned ourselves to a hungry walk back to the hotel we came across a place as you leave Merlion Park that advertised pizzas, hot dogs and a good chook feed. It turns out it was a great little spot with one of the yummiest pizzas I’ve had in a while.

Breakfast at our hotel and then we had lots of decisions to make on what to do on a gloomy and raining day in Singapore. Vic and Robyn who were in Singapore the day before us had highly recommended that we go to the Singapore Botanical Gardens. This had been on the cards until we discovered that we were going to experience one of the wettest days in the last 100 years. Okay maybe I’m being a little dramatic but it was really really wet.

We made the decision to make our way back down to Marina Bay precinct ( this time in a slightly more direct way) to visit both the Skytower Observation Deck and the Gardens by the Bay, the second was particularly attractive as we would be undercover. We made it almost to Marina Bay when the heavens opened and it then continued to rain all day long.

The SkyPark Observation Deck sits 56 storeys above the Marina Bay and the Gardens by the Bay. Even on a cloudy and some might say miserable day it is a spot not to be missed, just like the website says as long as there is no lightening in the area this unsheltered attraction is open. I have been fortunate enough to have now been here twice and I’d say without a doubt that the best time to visit is close to sunset on an evening when the skies are clear. We arrived just after opening time at 11.00am so the queues were okay, it is $26SGD per person which does feel a little steep with rain on the horizon. Having said that, it provides a wonderful view of a beautiful city and so I’d say it’s a must see if you get the timing right time you won’t notice the cost it will be all about the experience.

From here we went to the Gardens by the Bay – you can see the Gardens from the SkyPark but we did need the help of one of the doormen at the Marina Sands to send us in the right direction. On a less wet day it’s a beautiful place to wander through – to stay out of the rain we decided to spend $53SGD to go through the Flower Dome, the holder of the title in the Guinness Book of World Records of the largest glass greenhouse in the world with a total size of 1.2 hectares and the Cloud Forest which has the second tallest indoor waterfall (the highest is at Changi Airport, also in Singapore).

Oh and yes there is an “Avatar : The experience at Gardens by the Bay” which was part of our ticket into the Cloud Dome, kids will love it 😃. As well as having the opportunity to see yourself in Avatar form, there are some interactive displays as well as some pretty clever light shows.

And finally a slight detour during our walk back to the hotel while walking in the rain. The perfect end to a big 24 hours in Singapore … anyone fancy a Singapore Sling ?