What else do you do when you have a few days to spare in
Broome but fly to Singapore? Sounded like a great idea, and
it was.
Jetstar Asia had really cheap direct flights from Broome to Singapore that unfortunately will stop at the end of July this year, along with all of Jetstar Asia's activities. We had booked these flights ages ago and we were concerned that we wouldn't be able to pull off these 4 days in Singapore due to the lack of bookings for this flight, not thinking that the whole of Jetstar Asia operations would be withdrawn. It's really sad for the staff of Jetstar Asia who are based in Singapore. But according to Jetstar they can better use these planes in the Australian domestic market.
We ventured over to Sentosa Island, a long cable car ride from the mainland.
The whole island is sort of a theme park, complete with 2 golf courses, Universal Studios, and a marine life aquarium which unfortunately was closed for renovations when we were there.
There were hundreds of bells hanging on the rail near the cable car station. We know this is a thing in Asia.
We had a recommendation from Rod that whatever we ate in Singapore, we HAD to eat Rojak, from this very small, very hard to find stall, Soon Heng Rojak. After trekking through many shopping malls where this tiny food stall was, and asking 6 different people we finally found it. We had to go down a tiny escalator which we walked past without realising it actually went somewhere.
Rojak dish is a mix of sweet, sour, spicy, and savory flavors, featuring a variety of fruits and vegetables, often with a peanut-based sauce and crushed peanuts thrown over the whole thing. To Alan it tasted like Nutella with chilli. Not a fan.☹️
Next to our hotel was Emerald Hill Road. We could see this quirky street from our hotel room. So we decided to check it out. Most houses had been meticulously renovated, with a few still to go. It was previously the site of a former nutmeg orchard, and subsequently developed into a fashionable abode for the wealthy Chinese and Straits-Chinese merchants.
Cloud Forest and Flower Dome - Gardens By the Bay - Marina Bay
Cloud Forest - Jurassic World
This is described as: “Your journey begins at Brachiosaurus Falls, where lush jungle paths lead to a stunning waterfall and a face-to-face encounter with towering Brachiosaurus in the mist. It’s a breathtaking welcome to a world where dinosaurs roam again—in the heart of Gardens by the Bay.” This was a temporary feature we were lucky to be there for.
It was certainly spectacular and very well done. Casper would have loved it, as like most kids his age, they love dinosaurs.
Jewel at Changi Airport
A really interesting feature at Singapore Airport is
Jewel, a nature-themed entertainment and retail complex
surrounded by, and linked to Terminal 1. We were
departing from Terminal 4, but we had time to catch the
free shuttle to Jewel, wander around a bit, and then
catch the shuttle back in time for our flight.
It's centrepiece is the world's tallest indoor waterfall, the Rain Vortex which is surrounded by a terraced forest setting.
Certainly a pleasant way to spend an hour or two or even three while you wait for your flight.
The highlight for us was getting there just before the retails shops opened. The queue to get into the Pokemon Store was incredible, and as soon as the door opened, everyone rushed (in a very orderly manner) to buy trading cards, before getting onto their flight.
