Singapore redeemed itself somewhat today. We decided (eventually) to take a guided tour of the city during the afternoon.

We were taken from the hotel to the Chinatown area of the city, which may repay some further investigation as they were preparing for a major mid-autumn festival. This was where the tour (via air-conditioned coach) started from.

Next stop was the Marina Bay area, where inter alia we saw the Merlion and the “iconic” Marina Bay Sands hotel:

We were then taken to a Buddhist temple, the Thian Hock Keng, one of the oldest in Singapore. Maybe the gods frowned on us, for the rain was biblical!

Next on the list were the Singapore Botanic Gardens (not the Gardens by the Bay, which came later), featuring the National Orchid Garden.

This is a picture of our guide for the day, a very wet Linda Chan, who had a good line in self promotion, but was also very informative.

The weather had improved dramatically for the evening, so Linda took us on a tour of the quite  stunning Gardens by the Bay, one of Singapore’s most popular and well-known attractions. Save for a logistical nightmare with regard to the food arrangements, this was a spectacular visit, topped off with an amazing laser light show. The video file is too large to upload, but here’s the link:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!ArbZgHkHR1ynhcFltvZn_nIEHtOyEw?e=DofZ59

Up next was a trip up to the Sky Bar on top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which afforded some stunning views of the Singapore skyline:

All in all, a better experience, despite the rain! Temperatures in the low 30s, quite humid and we have seen quite a bit more of Singapore today.