Day two was a more coherent more productive day. After making sure that my original flight out was canceled without canceling my return flight, I went out to explore the city. A morning street vendor breakfast of spicy noodle soup call laksa and then I managed a city bus ride to the Sinapore Botanical Garden. Surrounded by the city, it is a tranquil, expansive retreat full of all sorts of, well, plants and it's free! They have an evolution walk talking about the development of plant life on the planet, a ginger garden, spice garden, medicinal plants, beverage plants and an orchestra shell for evening concerts. It was a drizzly morning which was really nice. (The photo is taken behind a waterfall in the garden.)Afterwards, I headed to Clarkes Quay which is basically a really touristy - shopping mecca - though I'm starting to suspect the whole city is about eating and shopping. This area borders on China town, which I took a miss in favor of exploring Raffles Hotel. Apparently Mr. Raffles was a historic figure but I didn't research him. Instead I walked around the palacial hotel "grounds" which were essentially shops surrounding the main hotel. This hotel is famous for its grandeur as well as being the birthplace of the Singapore Sling cocktail. They sell them for a measely $20.
And that was Singapore - a really great city where people are notably very friendly. I highly recommend a stopover there. Though perhaps without the drama. Tomorrow with my visa and passport in hand, I'm Indo-bound.
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