Day 11: Final Day in Singapore

We had to make it an early start because we had a long agenda, but it looked like the weather was cooperating with us. We headed to Sentosa Island, which is right off of Singapore Proper. We took a cable car. Our plan was to ride bikes around the island, which isn't that big. We arrived about 10, but the bike rental wasn't open. We walked to the next place that would have a bike rental, but we never found another. We did go for a pretty long walk along the beach. Before we knew it, it was 11 and we were running behind schedule. I figured that we had seen enough of Sentosa, so we stopped in the souvenir shop for some more gifts. I even picked up something for myself, a drum similar to the one used in Karate Kid II.

The afternoon would be filled with shopping on Orchard Road...and rain. Not a big deal, since we would be inside most of the time. We started a Tang's. Lynn bought a pair of shoes and I looked for some Liz Claiborne gear.

There was a lot of ground to cover, so we headed to several of the shopping centers. The Takashimaya center was the nicest one that we went to. It had a lot of high end stores and a huge food court. They had whatever type of food that you wanted. I also had a moonpie, which is a dessert. It was free sample so I tried different types, mango, chocolate, and durian. Durian is a type of fruit that has a distinct smell to it, bad. But when in Rome...well, it was definitely interesting and had a distinct taste to it, garlicy.

The rain slowed down, and so did the shopping. We hit a Border's so I could pick up some reading for the plain. I was all excited because they had The DaVinci Code in paperback, something I hadn't seen in the US yet. I am not a big fan of hardcover books because I do most of my reading on the subway and since paperbacks are usually more compact, they are easier to carry around.

The plan for the rest of the day was to do the the Singapore River cruise and then head to dinner. The weather had cleared up and it would be a good night to do the river cruise. Along the river there is this bungy ride. Lynn had wanted to do this the last time we were down here and I told her maybe next time. I was talked into do it. I was a little nervous at first, but I decided to do it. You are sitting down and it is like a giant sling shot that shoots you directly up and bounces you up and down a few times. They give you the option of taking your video home with you if you please. The anticipation is the hardest part because you don't know what to expect. Then, they throw an additional element, they shoot smoke at you. You can heard the bungy stretching out, and then boom, you're shooting into the sky. You go about 200 feet in the air and they you shoot back down. The third time down was the scariest because we were facing down. Now I know what it would be like to fall from a burning building! I am glad I did the bungy.

After my heart rate dropped. we took a leisurely cruise on the river. It was a really good time to go because it was twilight and all the lights were starting to going on in all the buildings. Even though it was a Sunday there were still plenty of people out at the restaurants. I also saw the national symbol of Singapore, the Merlion.

For dinner we headed to a cuisine Singapore is known for...Italian. Seriously, we had read good reviews about Michelangelo's, so we decided to go there. The service was so-so, but the food was delicious. I had this antipasto plate which had a mix of cheeses, olives, smoked seafood, and cured meats and for dinner I had a seafood pasta with a very spicy sauce. Lynn had a delicious gnocchi. They did a good job of influencing the food with a little Asian flare, as was the case with my main. They also had this Tandoori chicken fettucine that looked interesting, but not interesting enough to order, especially if I was going to be on a plane tomorrow. Lynn and I sipped our last drops of wine and enjoyed our last few minutes together until next month. It was as long as the time before I arrived...