Downtown

We haven't all been back downtown together since we moved here and none of us had been there at night. There was a river festival going on this month and since Samara napped late Friday and the festival ended Sunday we thought it was a good time to head downtown.

Notice her little beaver? We've been trying to figure out where Samara learned about beavers. For about a week, she'd ask me everyday if we could go buy a "(l)ittle beaver". When I asked where she'd seen one or where we could buy one she'd say, "well, at the mall ... probably". She was very good to forgo her M&Ms for going potty to save up stars to earn the beaver.

This is a nice little street full of restaurants (you'll see it in the picture with Ben and Samara with the boats in the background), where someone stands in front every single restaurant and tries to get you to eat there. It is quite annoying!

Le Skyline

Samara had a great time running around...

...and stopping at each of these lights, which were about every 10 feet. She'd sit down and start talking to her beaver.

Then she made some friends who were advertising for the boat show they were in. Samara made sure to get an invitation for each of us. Ben was frightened by them and they reminded me, maybe because of the boats and maybe because of the blue man in the background, of pilot episode of Arrested Development. Tobias on the other boat wearing Lindsey's blouse, anyone?

You can see that street across the river with all the restaurants.

The famous Fullerton Hotel and the Cavenagh Bridge, the oldest bridge in Singapore that exists in it's original form and dates back to 1870. It was build to commemorate Singapore's new crown glory. Part of what is now a hotel was originally a fort built in 1829, then changed to the first general post-office in 1874, then used as an exchange building, the Singapore Club, the Marine Department, the Import and Export Department, and as the Chamber of Commerce and other government departments. It is now a upscale boutique hotel.

The downtown is breathtaking at night and much more enjoyable to walk around as the weather is much cooler. If you ever visit or live here make sure to go for an evening stroll there. We will definitely be returning.

And finally, we went on a great hike Saturday. The Nature Reserve is just 19 bus stops away from our house (can you tell I miss having a car?) and this is the first time we've made it there. We planned on doing a short hike but ended up getting a little lost and hiking about 10 km to the other side of the reserve. It was not 19 bus stops to get back home. It was very worth it though. The tropical forest is so lush and beautiful. It rained quite a bit, which was nice and kept it cool. We couldn't help notice the contrast between the city and the forest and talked about how crazy it is that the whole island used to be covered in rain forest. We are glad they've kept some of it preserved to give us a break from the busy city and all the people. The disappointing thing though was how much litter was on some of trails. They do so much to keep the downtown spotless and it's a shame they don't try to enforce it there too. We didn't have the camera but did get one picture with our phone. Total cost of the weekend ~$17 for bus, train, and taxi fares.