3/5/24 Clarke Quay & The Jewel

 

   Awake , refreshed hmm , awake and getting packed as we check out today . Our flight isn't till 12:30am , so we have the whole day to fill in . Fortunately we can leave our bags at the hotel all day , and there's a shower up near the pool that we can use before leaving for the airport .

  Bags stored , we headed out to Great World - an MRT stationing shopping centre - for a look & to get some uv filters for my camera . Wandering in we found nothing of interest , but it was lunchtime , lot's of Japanese food here , but we weren't keen on anything raw , more so because we were flying tonight and didn't want to be feeling unwell . We walked past a restaurant bar next to the station and stopped to look at the menu . They had a lunch special - 3 course meal for $26 each - we went in . Starters mushroom & tomato bruschetta , mains we had were Sirloin steak and Barramundi , then a chocolate cookie for desert.   Definitely filled the hole very well , we were very happy with that meal .

  Back to the train,  off to Orchard Rd for a look for those uv filters .Well hasn't that changed since we were here in 1986 . We can remember the above ground MRT station in full view - not anymore , it's underground or underbuilding , covered by millions of tonnes of concrete & people . Into Lucky Plaza , no camera spares here anymore - they were down the road a few kilometres , so back out & decipher the bus system , find a bus and away we go . Public transport is really easy here . Filters sorted , we head back to the MRT and go to Clarke Quay for a wander around the Singapore River . 

   There's plenty of older buildings all painted up and it's a popular area for locals and tourists , cruises leave from here as well .

 The cruise boats were coming & going regularly .

   Some of the old warehouses and more cruise boats .

   There's also the river walk that follows the river .

   Time to head back to the hotel for a shower & change of clothes , then head to the airport . 

  Refreshed , we decided it was time to get a taxi to the airport instead of us battling peak hour in the train with bags & backpacks and a cast of thousands .  The taxi driver was great and chatted to us the whole way , getting us to check in at T1. Checked in , it was time to check out the Jewel - a shopping centre and eatery with another indoor waterfall . Here we are in front of it - it's crazy , there are hundreds of people here sitting watching , taking photo's and waiting for planes . There'a a light show every hour from 7:30pm to 12:30pm that attracts quite a crowd .

   The concrete section midway up the waterfall is the train track for the free train that connects between all the different sections of the airport .

   The multi level centre has a food court down below and it's set up like the old food hawker markets , and the prices are very cheap as well - we had 2 king prawn fried rice's for $15 - bargain . Leaving the food level & back to the waterfall in time for a light show colour change , we then headed back to find our departure lounge .

   We found it and walked , walked and walked some more to D48 , only to check a few times , then hear an announcement . Checking again , we had a gate change 30mins before boarding , we had to go to C24 . Well C24 would nearly be the furthest point away from D48 , there was time boards along the way , letting us know how long it was going to take to walk there . Well , a lot of travelators and walking saw us get there about 5 mins before they opened the departure lounge , and started boarding about 15mins later . A long night ahead of us .

 Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Q5-9R2nSrvD1XYQTEaDAf0gqxBhkkys&usp=sharing