Day 2

Good morning friends and family, or should I say good afternoon since you're 12 hours behind me?  I couldn't sleep tonight, so here I am anxious to share...
The hotel I'm staying in is called the The Elizabeth, part of the Far East Group.  I'm in a standard, not "Premier" aka refurbished.  The room is nice enough, but with a few odd quirks.  All the lights in the room are controlled from a panel on the bedside table; none of the lights have switches except for the bathroom, which is down for on and up for off.

 There is no real coffee, just instant, so I persuaded the friendly front desk agent to give me access to the "Executive Pavilion" concierge room with real coffee, apple and orange juice, and  bottled water.  The other oddity is the bathtub.  You have to step way up to get in, then your head is above the shower head, and the floor of the tub is super narrow.  Made for Asian feet I suppose, but the water is hot and the pressure is strong.
Day 2 started with a quest to find Wild Honey, a place the came highly recommended by the guide books and info on the hotel info channel on the TV.  We finally found it thanks to Google maps on my Hackberry.  It was buried in yet another mega mall, on the fourth floor, in the back by the spas where you let some fish nibble the dead skin off your feet before your pedicure.  The guides attracted a good crowd and we were 3 tables deep on the waiting list.  No big deal and we only waited about 15 minutes before we were shown to our seats...and the counter.  For all the hip casual flair with brightly colored chalk board menus, low slung coffee table seating and great smells wafting from the kitchen, you were expected to place your order at the counter before taking your seat.

 Hmmmm, not sure I'm digging this process, but luckily, the manager sensed my displeasure and took our order on her I-pad because there was quite a mob huddled around the one on the counter we were supposed to use.  So far, not so bad...the menu offered mostly variations on eggs benedict and Sandra and I both chose the crab cake version...at $34SNG each.  When in Rome...the deal breaker came when they almost charged me another $5 for a refill on my way too pricey, not Starbucks venti sized coffee.  Ergh...  Food came out perfect and we were quite satisfied.

Bellies full we set out to the SMRT station towards the zoo.  We again were struck by the efficiency and cleanliness of the trains and stations minus freaks, geeks or other miscreants.  (love that word...)  I had to take a picture of the ingress/egress arrows for our guidance just to display how orderly they are here.  As soon as we exited the train and got to ground level we were approached by a "tour guide" offering a van ride and entrance ticket to the zoo.  Normally I would side step these "tour guides", but we tried it and sure enough, we were sped to the zoo by private van and our ticket actually got us access to the park.
This zoo is one of the most highly rated in the world for it's natural enclosures and how close you feel to the animals.  We arrived just in time for the feeding of their pair of white Tigers.  What a sight.  Next were the Orangutans, which they spell as two words.  Lions, Tigers, no bears...sorry.  But I did find the Zebras for my sweetheart, Cindy.  Miss you baby!

No rain today, but it was still overcast, which I'm thankful for because I'm not ready to sweat my balls off!  So, the zoo was amazing and the public bus ride back to the SMRT was fairly pleasant considering it was packed since we left just at closing and everyone was headed out.  Singaporeans are peaceful and mannerly people, it's so amazing.  The other cool thing is they are fairly short people too, so I feel fairly tall around here and it's nice being head above shoulders when in a crowd.  Speaking of crowds, we decided to take a walk on the wild side today, not literally, but the other side of Orchard Road seems to be where the common folks flock.  Here is where we found the touristy 3-for $10 tee shirt shops, 7-11, and yes "adult" stores.  This side of the street was flooded with people like the streets of NYC.  Quite the opposite experience from the other side of the street, but pleasant nonetheless.

Tonight we decided to explore the Bayfront and all it's spectacle.  Here is where you'll find the local icon Merlion, the worlds tallest ferris wheel, the Singapore Flyer, and the biggest, baddest, mega-complex of all, The Marina Bay Sands hotel/casino/shopping plaza.  This complex is bigger, bolder, and bulging with even more high end shopping from designers I've never even heard of.  This is the top of the top, the rich of nouveau riche, the gaudy and gauche.  The architecture is immense and amazing; witness the "toilet" (my moniker) water sculpture.

 We managed to find a sushi cafe with outdoor seating so we could take in the skyline and it's lights.  Food was overpriced, but we're in Singapore, right.  The sushi was good enough.  We're exhausted now and need to beat it back to the hotel so I can upload, update, connect, text, e-mail, Facebook, and blog.  Good thing I don't need much sleep...Peace and love to all...Miss you Cindy, glad you're back on Facebook!  ;)