The Merlion and Singapore Flyer.

 April 23rd

Hmm, had a bit of a dodgy tum last night. Not sure if it was the burger that came from the hotel café but it may have been the pint and a half of local brewed beer, not at all used to drinking that at all, give me wine any day. Anyway this morning's breakfast was more on the 'take it easy' side. No full English or syrup pancakes for me! Just scrambled eggs on toast and a cup of tea. 

I suppose a taxi could have been ordered for the trip to the Merlion but we decided to walk. It was only about a kilometre from the hotel. I felt sure the heat could be coped with for that short walk. It was a bit of a struggle especially as I have done something bad to my heel. Started toward the tail-end of the NZ trip and has got steadily worse ever since. Oh, dear. Seems I have reached the ripe old age of 70 and the body has decided enough is enough! Anyway the place was heaving when we arrived.  So many people vying for the perfect spot to take photographs.

 

Got a spot in the end and joined the throng of waving phones and cameras in the air.

 This statue is made of half fish, half lion and you can read about the myth HERE. It used to stand at the head of the Singapore River but with the completion of Esplanade Bridge in 1997, the statue could no longer be viewed clearly from the waterfront and was relocated to the Merlion Park.

With it being Sunday, not much in the way of shops or cafés open but we did find one during the walk towards the Singapore Flyer. Here we stopped for cold drinks whilst debating what to do next. I really wanted to do the flyer, the wheel looked massive, even bigger than our London Eye in the UK. Found out afterwards that the wheel in the UK is actually the 7th highest in the world being a mare 135 m. The highest is in Dubai at 250 m and Singapore Flyer comes in 3rd at 165 m.

It was another kilometre walk to get to it. By now both of us were wet through with sweat, especially Ian having a rucksack on his back. The thought of an air-conditioned pod was a good incentive to keep going. There didn't appear to be any sign of the wheel moving, hmm...was it closed today? Ian checked their website, groan...it would open alright but not until 2 pm. The time now was just on midday! Two hours to wait and not a café to to stop and cool down in. We found a small water park underneath the Flyer itself. Here we found a shady spot to sit out and wait the time. 

Fish and Terrapins kept us occupied in the small ponds. There was even a small blue fish which I think my have been a Cichlid.

By 1.45 pm we made our way to the ticketing kiosk. A queue had already formed. in fact, it appeared to be really busy. With twenty eight pods around the wheel each holding 25 people, the queue soon lessoned and in no time we had taken our place and were on our way.

30 minutes to complete the rotation with a 360 degree view, it was incredibly spectacular and the top of the rotation only just fell short of the Marine Bay Hotel viewing platform.

The cost for this ride was $40 each. That equates to 24.09 English pounds. The London Eye is between £32 and £35 depending if you buy the tickets online or on the day. I felt this ride then was well worth every penny.

We took a cab back to the hotel. I didn't fancy that two-kilometre walk in the heat and humidity of the afternoon sun. The pool called to us again and what better way to cool off than in the water and later with an iced cold soft drink. 

Tomorrow is our last full day here. We have booked tickets to see the River Wonders. It's a good cab drive away, 25 k to be precise. The getting there should be no problem, the return might though. We will keep fingers crossed the same set up will be as at the Botanical gardens.