Wow, it’s been a roller coaster week, 3 countries in 5 days! I said goodbye to my sweet elephant friends in Taro and headed to the airport for Singapore. I had booked a room at Hotel Clover the Arts because it looked clean and artsy. It did not disappoint. I went to my room and opened the door to find I had gotten the elephant room! I had not requested that, in fact I didn’t even know there was an elephant room. Out of all the rooms in the hotel, what are the odds I would get the elephant room right after leaving the elephant park? Here is my video of that room.
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| I love Singapore! After three weeks of third world conditions, it was such a nice break to be in a clean, modern city! I went to the Chinatown market that night and ordered a deep friend sea bass for dinner. It was really good! The waitress admonished me for not eating it correctly and said “next time, you order steamed fish, you eat the whole thing!” I wasn’t trying to waste food, there’s a technique to eating fish like that and I haven’t had much practice. Luckily, the table next to me ordered a steamed fish and I got to see how the pros did it. They ate every part of the fish, skin and all except for the tail fin and backbone. I watched in fascination as the guy put the entire fish head in his mouth and spit out the bones! I resolved to do better next time. |
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| Chinatown night market, Singapore. |
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| The next day I was on a mission: I had some supplies I really needed to restock, mostly personal and first aid items. I went back to Chinatown and started perusing the shops. I was thrilled that I was able to find everything I needed by lunchtime! I dumped my finds in my hotel room and set off for the Gardens by the Bay. If you look at any tourist information on Singapore, you will see these iconic towers. In addition to the towers there are two domes, the flower dome and the cloud dome. I was already tired and hot so I opted to explore only one dome. I chose the cloud dome because it sounded mysterious. I bought my ticket and got inside the front door and immediately ran into a crowd of tourists that had stopped just inside the front door, causing a traffic jam. Once I got around them, I saw why. Right in the middle of the dome was a huge waterfall, going all the way up to the top which was five or six stories! I took a lift up to the top and then walked the circular walkway down. It was breathtaking! It is brilliantly designed with plants, waterways, and sculptures all harmoniously placed together. The walkway took me around to the back of the waterfall, then around to the front, and so on. |
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| After that, I was officially tired and verging on heat exhaustion so I went back to my room. I packed up all my new supplies and the next day it was back on a plane for Bangkok! The hotel I booked in Bangkok, the Shanghai Mansion, was by far the coolest room I’ve stayed in yet. Video here. It is set right in Chinatown so that night I had the opportunity to visit the night market and sample some street food. My favorite was a duck and noodle dish. It was so good, about 20 minutes I went back for some more and they were sold out! Darn. I was still overtired from Singapore so the next day I just laid low in my hotel room, easy to do since it was so amazingly beautiful, and only went out to eat and come back in. It was exactly what I needed. I learned after Bali to take heat exhaustion and dehydration very seriously. And I am learning to listen to my body and be patient if it needs more time to heal. |
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| View from inside the waterfall in the cloud dome. Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. |
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| After a nice relaxing day in Bangkok, it was time for my final plane trip for awhile (I hope) to Chiang Mai! It was an easy flight, business class was only about 30% full so we all had plenty of room to stretch out. In Thailand I have read that scammer taxi drivers will take you somewhere other than where you want to go in order to get more money out of you so I had booked a car from the resort. It was about 1/2 hour drive and then I felt like I was in “The King and I!” They drove me into the resort and up this grand ramp in front of what I swear looked like a palace! |
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| I was ushered out of the car, my bags taken, sat down in the lobby, given a flower necklace, cold cloth and tea. I filled out the paperwork and my butler, a very sweet young Thai lady, asked me to follow her to a golf cart. She said “I hope you don’t mind we upgraded you to a villa.” I was completely overwhelmed by this point at the size and beauty of the resort I just kept nodding and bowing and smiling. The drive to my villa took a good ten minutes. She opened the door and gave me a full tour, bathroom, kitchen, sitting area with tv, balcony with private pool. I was just starting to wonder where the bedroom was when she said "follow me please" and we went outside, up a flight of stairs and into another building! This was the master suite with a queen size bed with mosquito netting (Thank God) and a whole bathroom suite with walk in closet. She sat down with me and went over every single aspect of my options, tours, food, shopping, and asked me if there was anything she could do for me. I said no thank you and after more bowing and smiling she left me to my new abode. I spent the first hour wandering around in a daze. I had booked the smallest, cheapest room in the resort so I was awestruck at the beauty and deeply grateful to be given this incredible gift. |
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