Smells Fishy

 We slept in a bit, because our first adventure began at 10am. We had breakfast in the executive lounge, a floor above us, because we could. I stay in a lot of Hiltons and the lounge comes with that. While it was a smaller selection, we agreed it was a nicer selection. 

Finishing earlier than we needed to, we decided to take an outdoor walk to the Merlion statue, only a few minutes away. The weather wasn’t hot and there was 0% chance of rain. We quickly discovered the humidity made us feel like we had been rained on. 

The Merlion (half mermaid half lion), the symbol of Singapore in this iconic fountain. 

This building is another iconic view of Singapore. Jane says it looks like a boat crashed on top of 3 highrises. 

We passed beautiful buildings 

… and lush plants. These were Jane’s particularly favorite. 

These iconic symbols of the city include Haw Par Villa from yesterday. 

We appreciated the public art we found, including this one. 

Having worked up a sweat in the Singaporean humidity, we took a train to the islands interior for a perfume making event. We had booked a private event for 10am. This area of the city was solely residential with a couple of services type buildings interspersed, I flying the Delta Center where our class was at. We had to get help to learn that addresses in Singapore start with the floor number and end with the unit number. We made our way to the perfume lab and waited on the concrete floor without air conditioning. At 10am, nobody showed. We were hot, thirsty and disappointed. I prepaid, so I was more than disappointed. I wrote them an email demanding a refund and we sat on the front steps of this strange industrial building plotting our next move. We got a call from the manager profusely apologizing. He promised a refund but wanted to give us the class anyway if we would wait another 15 minutes. We agreed to sit it out at Starbucks across the street and cool off.  

Jane ate a pile of lychees, her favorite fruit that we can rarely find in the US.  They were better here than any she had even had before. She plans to eat them every day this summer. 

Eventually we got our class rolling. We had to learn to build scents together to make our own perfume. Jane NAILED IT. MINE WAS GOOD BUT HERS WAS PERFECT. even our instructor told her not to tinker with it any more. She named hers Earthworm” and they custom labeled her bottle. They store the recipe should she ever want to order more. 

I’m looking crazed or drugged I. This video, but this was really too much fun!

After our adventures in perfume making and city hiking, we opted for a nap and a shower. Next up was dance class again, this time it was too easy. We are shifting all of her classes to the challenging teacher.  We followed dance with a meal for the day at around 4:30. This meal is worth noting. The restaurant had 3 prized dishes they were advertising. We picked the fish in golden sour and spicy broth. Jane and I liked the advertisement that “the broth will outshine the fish”.  Boy, they weren’t exaggerating!  I drank cup after cup of the broth, growing increasingly frustrated that I’d never have it again. The base had to have chicken stock and turmeric but that’s where it takes a turn. Red chilis and garlic were detected, and perhaps some veggies boiled in too. Neither the broth nor the fish had any fishy taste at all. But as Jane said, “the broth has layers of complexity”, and I’m not a foodie enough to pick it apart. Both the fish and the soup were a treat!

They served us water with oxygen. 

We skipped the nasty cookies. 

Next up was the island of Sentosa, a dedicated space for amusement parks, hotels, and entertainment. Universal Atudios is there but we were instead going to a standalone Harry Potter experience. Wands controlled the magic in this 3D realm that recreated 10 scenes from the stories. We were thrilled with the experience. Worth it. 

We headed back to the room to repack for tomorrow, when we leave for Bangkok. We are only bringing our small luggage and the hotel is keeping the rest. More tomorrow!