DelHoyos in Singapore

As you may have heard, I am Sean Kay Foley's young(er) sister, Heather, and my husband, Miles, and I spent a few days in Singapore last week. Back in February we planned a trip to Bali, Indonesia and just knew we had to stop there on our way home so we could see the Foleys and see this beautiful city. I would like to report that this was the correct choice.

We arrived in Singapore late afternoon Wednesday. We were surprised a couple of weeks ago with the news that Sean and Vivian would be in Hong Kong for our first 24 hours in Singapore, but we roll with the punches. Sean, being the excellent planner that he is, sent two capabale, and adorable greeters to the airport to welcome us, treat us to dinner (from Sean), and get us on our way safely to his apartment. They were a tad later than they thought they would be so Miles and I headed to The Jewel part of the airport where we arranged to meet them.

THE JEWEL. Holy smokes. I first became aware of this part of the Singapore airport when my daughter-in-law, Paola, sent me some videos a few weeks ago. But nothing prepares you for seeing it in person. OUR MINDS WERE BLOWN. The waterfall was AMAZING but also the greenery and the shopping mall all around it. The whole experience. We finally found Sister Sprague and Sister Glasgow.

They took some photos for us and showed us around a little. Then we ended up in the food court, a Hawker Center type area, and they helped us figure out how/what to order. We had a fun dinner and then they told us we HAD to try chendol..an iced sweet dessert with beans and coconut milk and some green worm type jelly candies. It was pretty interesting but yummy too. We had planned to get a car to the apartment but they were super excited to show us how to ride the MRT so off to the train station we went. We have such respect for cities with amazing mass transit...Washington DC, NYC, Chicago. It just makes life so much easier, doesn't it? They rode with us almost ALL the way to the aparmtent and then we realized that they were going quite a ways past their stop. We assured them we would be JUST fine so they got off. Of course we got off a stop too soon, but easily corrected. I never worry when Miles is with me. He is so good at navigating and keeping us safe. And people here are SO polite. They offer up their seats, they ask if you need help. I am SO impressed. We got off and walked to Sean and Vivian's apartment.

We had such good directions from Sean, that we easily found it and got in. At one point we had thought we might go out that night, but to be honest were pretty tired. So we just called it a night, and it felt GREAT.

Thursday was our 27th Anniversary! That morning we caught up on our sleep a little and a few things we needed to do now that we had reliable WiFi then got dressed and went for a run.

What a beautiful neighborhood. It was so much fun to see so many people out and about. It was definitely a challenge with the heat and humidity though. I was COOKED. We only did 2.5 miles, but it was enough. Miles was very excited to find a bread vending machine in Sean & Vivian's complex. Imagine. Once we cleaned up and showered we headed out for a real adventure, stopping at the mall for a quick lunch at McDonalds first. I was SUPER happy for a fresh Diet (okay Zero) Coke. And we found cute little Happy Meal toys to bring back to the kids, they were MINI CROCS! We hopped on the train and headed to Mt. Faber. After getting off the stop we walked through ANOTHER cool mall. It was hard not to get distracted by the many cool stores. Okay we got distracted by one, where we stocked up on snacks, but then we walked over to Mt. Faber where we realized we would be WALKING UP A MOUNTAIN to get the cable car we had reserved.

I should have suspected when I saw how far away it looked, but no. It was worth it though (I think) because the walk was BEAUTIFUL, and now we both weigh 5 pounds less in water weight. I am not sure I have ever sweat so much. As soon as we got to the top and explored a little, Miles decided we needed to upgrade to the Sky Orb, which instead of a normal cable cars, is glass all around, and even has a glass floor. I am SO glad he did because it was AWESOME! We loved soaring over Singapore and seeing how beautiful and green it was. It was fun to see Sentosa Island from that bird's eye view.

Upon disembarking at Sentosa, we quickly realized it was a very touristy spot. Sean had warned me, but I didn't quite realize it was THAT kind of touristy. Universal Studios, an aquarium, and all of the amusement park type places. No matter. We hopped on the other cable car there and took it down to the beach. We enjoyed walking on the beach and walked to the southern most point in Southeast Asia then walked back up and rode back to Mt. Faber...well, not quite back. We got off one stop sooner so as to avoid the long descent down the island.

We hopped on the MTR and rode to the zoo! Our evening plan was to go to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo and it did not disappoint. It was SO COOL.

We got there just as it was opening after riding the train and the bus (easy peasy) then instead of walking around the zoo, rode the tram, which felt OH SO NICE. There were so many beautiful animals out and we were amazed at how they were not even behind fences or anything.

Super cool. We also attended the show in the amphitheater and watched a firedance. It was awesome, and we were both so glad we went. We ended the night with a romantic dinner at....A&W. Ha ha ha. You take what you can get at 10 pm. Oh boy were we tired by the time we walked into the apartment. 20,000 steps in that heat will do that to you.

The best part of the day though, was when Sean and Vivian walked in! We stayed up way too late catching up which was so much fun.

Friday morning Miles went off for another run, but I was smart and went for a swim with my brother. It felt MUCH nicer. Their pool is super nice. Miles enjoyed his run and work out in the park across the street. This time he ran 4.5 miles. Sean and Vivian had a meeting or two, but by 11:30 we were all ready to head out. First we rode the MRT to their mission office and got to see where they work every day. It was in a beautiful part of town and their chapel and office are so nice. Then we went to Little India and had lunch in the Hawker Market there. Sean took charge and ordered everthing which was great since we did not know where to start. We drank some yummy mango lassi to go with it. We did a little walking through the market after and saw such beautiful clothes and things.

Then we rode the train to the site of the future Singapore Temple. It was pretty impactful to see that. It is one thing to hear the announcement of where a temple will be built, but to visit a country and to see the people and realize they have to travel 16 hours by car or 2 hours by plane to attend and then see that they will soon have their own temple is just so exciting.

After the temple site, we rode the MRT down to Marina Bay where we walked through some skyrises of downtown. Singapore is such an impressive city. It is so clean and beautiful. I love how they incorporate nature into so much of their architecture. We made our way over to the waterfront and saw the Merlion Statue. It was pretty fun. I acted out a few silly photos. Then we had a beautiful long walk over to the other side of the bay to get to Gardens by the Bay. We walked through ANOTHER huge mall. Singapore and its malls, I tell you. And even walked through the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel. And finally made it to Gardens by the Bay.

Gardens by the Bay may have been the highlight for Miles. It was a truly beautiful place. We got tickets to go into both big exhibits, the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome. The Flower Dome was amazing. So beautiful and full of the most lovely flowers. Right now they are running a Monet exhibit. I was thrilled as I have always been a HUGE Monet fan. We all loved that. The Cloud Forest though. WOW. It was breath taking. We could have spent hours in there. Another huge waterfall was falling from the sky, and there were amazing exhibits on every floor. There was a beautiful walkway starting at the top and winding down. Miles and I both loved that.

By then we were all tired and hungry. We escaped to Shake Shack where we had a DELICIOUS birthday dinner for Vivian! It was so much fun. We even sang Happy Birthday over milkshakes to her. We made it onto the tram and over to a great viewing point in front of the pond to watch the super trees light show just in time. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SHOW. It felt like magic. Back onto the MRT, which thankfully was right there, we went and went back to the apartment where we all slept quite well.

It was an early morning to catch our car to the airport then head for home, but we felt so happy we spend this time here. The whole experience felt just magical...the beautiful city, the time with Sean and Vivian, exploring new things. Well done, Singapore.