Wow, sorry to say I haven't posted since March 7! Where has this Spring 2011 gone??? Can you believe we are almost at the halfway mark for this year? It's not like we've been so busy but this year just seems to be getting away from us.
In the first week of March we were in the process of planning our R&R trip to Japan. We had plans to see Tokyo and surrounding areas, plus a few days in Okinawa. Joe hadn't been back to see Okinawa since he was a little boy and we were excited to see it. We had plans to see the Cherry Blossom festival in Tokyo, take a ride on the bullet train and see a Tokyo Giants game. Joe had been traveling for work and while he was gone I had mapped out some of our activities for Japan. We were going to book our flights and hotels that weekend.
That all changed on Friday, March 11, 2011 when the earthquake and the even more devastating tsunami hit Japan. I can remember the feeling I had in my chest when I saw the first pictures of the devastation. I remember calling Joe to tell him about it and him not knowing. Joe's stepmother has family in Tokyo and we both knew she would be frantic not knowing how they were. We were supposed to meet with them on our stay in Tokyo. Fortunately they were OK, just minor damage in their apartment, but at that point we knew we wouldn't be seeing Japan this year.
That weekend we began looking at alternate places to spend our R&R. Our solution? Singapore and Bali!
We saw Singapore on our first R&R in 2008 but were excited to get back since there had been a lot of construction going on. We were anxious to see the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel what was under construction in 2008 and had opened in 2010. There was also another major construction project on Sentosa Island , Resorts World Sentosa, that had been completed since 2008. It comprised the Hard Rock Hotel as well a few other hotels plus lots of family activities including Universal Studios Singapore theme park. The best of all was the opening of casinos at the Marina Bay Sands and at Resorts World Sentosa. We also found out that our Texas friends, Rey and Linda, from Chengdu would be in Singapore at the same time we would.
We had flight delays out of Hong Kong and didn't arrive until almost 4:00 in the morning. We slept in and got a late start on our first day in Singapore. We spent the first afternoon exploring the Marina Bay Sands Hotel where we were staying. There is a huge shopping complex attached to the hotel with lots of unusual shops. There's also a gondola boat ride throughout the complex. That evening we ate black pepper crab at a beach side restaurant. Great start to our R&R. We wrapped up the evening in the Marina Bay Sands Casino and had great luck at the Black Jack tables.
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| Kim and Linda in Little India |
The next morning we met up with Rey and Linda and spent the day around Singapore. We shopped and ate lunch in the Indian section of the city. It was a beautiful sunny but humid day. It was great to be out of gloomy Chengdu and soaking up some much needed rays of sunshine! We had Singapore Slings on the patio of the famous Raffles Hotel Long Bar. Looking out at the city's concrete jungle before us, it was hard to believe that Earnest Hemmingway sat at this same bar and looked out over beautiful sandy beaches and ocean waters so many years ago.
We wrapped up the day at an old horse racing track turned into a shopping and restaurant area eating more delicious crab. The place was recommended by the manager of Tony Romas in Chengdu who was from Singapore. The place was certainly not much to look at and certainly not a big tourist attraction but the food was pretty good. After dinner we went back up to the observation deck at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
Pool and fire dance on the observation deck
Singapore City by night
Joe and I again ended the night by having another great run at the Black Jack tables. Score - Joe and Kim - 2, Marina Bay Sands Hotel Casino - 0.
The next day, Saturday, we got up early to see the sunrise from the deck of the Marina Bay Sands. We had breakfast with Rey and Linda then said good bye to them. They were off to see more of Singapore before heading back to Chengdu. We spent the morning by the pool and spent the rest of the day around the hotel.
We had an evening flight to Bali, our next stop.
The next day, Saturday, we got up early to see the sunrise from the deck of the Marina Bay Sands. We had breakfast with Rey and Linda then said good bye to them. They were off to see more of Singapore before heading back to Chengdu. We spent the morning by the pool and spent the rest of the day around the hotel.
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