“Welcome
to the airport in Peking, China. Please keep your seat belt buckled until the
airplane comes to a complete stop. We hope you have enjoyed our flight and we
look forward to seeing you again.女士们，先生们，欢迎来到北京的机场。请保持你的安全带扣上直到飞机完全停止为止。我们希望您享有我们的航班，我们期待着再次见到您。” Two days ago, we left Singapore, a great
place to visit. Our family stayed at the
luxurious and expensive Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Every day, we went to the Melt
the World Café, to eat breakfast, choosing from the wide variety of food and
drinks. Then, we would wash up and go out to play!
On the first full day, we
rode on a tour bus to explore Singapore. I was sick that day. I slept and
rested on the bus. The first place my family visited was Little India. I didn't like this place because the air smelled heavily of smoke, and everything was
way too colorful. Another place my family (not me, I was sleeping in the bus
with dad) explored was Chinatown. Mom bought me a glow-in-the-dark merlion, the
official animal of Singapore, or Singapura, for that matter. The last place we
visited was the National Orchid Garden. I was there to see the exquisite beauty
of the orchids. There were many varieties of orchids in the gardens, such as
the VIP garden. I enjoyed reading the labels describing the flowers.
On the second full day,
we explored the Gardens By the Bay, the Lego “The Art Of The Brick” Exhibit,
and the “ Mist-walk”.
First, we visited the
Gardens. In the garden, we visited the two buildings that won the 2012 “Best
Building in the World” award – the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome – and saw
the Super trees the walk that connected the trees, and the treetop restaurant.
First, we saw the Super trees Because there is no space for gardens on the
ground in crowded little Singapore, people created large metal frames that rose
up into the sky, called Super trees as vertical gardens. They took less space,
and also became a tourist attraction. On the trees, I see flowers, ivy,
climbing plants, and other plants just vertically attached. Then, we explored
the Flower Dome. Inside, we saw many plants from different areas of the world. We
entered the Australian zone with all its cactus and bottle trees. We roamed the
terrace and saw many native plants. When we finally left, we passed the nature
conservation video game stations. The Cloud Forest was a whole different story.
A waterfall splashed down from the heights above, creating a wet environment
perfect for plant life. On the third floor was the Treetop Walk, hovering over
the plants below. Rock formations, crystals, stalactites, and stalagmites adorn
this floor too. The fourth floor was covered in endangered animal information
panels, giving a detailed description of the animals. The fifth floor doesn't stand out very much, but the sixth floor’s Cloud walk is amazing. At least 50
feet high in the air, you look down and see the plants, growing, reaching up
toward you. The Walk descends to the fifth floor. On the seventh floor, you get
a great view of the city – and a great view down. The plants adorn the man-made mountain like grains of sand on a beach. Thriving, exotic plants cover the mountain
and the area around it. There are flowers, figs, grasses, and others.
After that, we visited
the brand-new Lego “The Art Of The Brick” exhibit. All of the sculptures were
handmade by Nathan Sawaya, an eccentric Lego artist and AFOL (Adult Fan Of Lego).
One of my favorite masterpieces was called “Overcome”. It was a statue of a
person climbing a ladder over a tall wall. He was “overcoming” the wall, or the
problem he was facing. I like this sculpture because it always invoked
curiosity. Will he make it? Will his ladder (or solution) topple and fail?
These are questions that have bogged my thoughts. Another of my favorite pieces
was “Blue” or “Thinking Person”. He sits on a white leather seat, in a relaxed
position, head held up with one arm. There is an empty black leather seat right
next to his. The only thing in between is a vase with flowers on a wooden
table. I like the way, without saying anything or moving, he beckons the viewer
to nestle in the seat beside him in the same pose as he.
To end Day two, we ate
dinner in the Mall at Marina Bay Sands. I was starving since I didn't eat a big
lunch, so I ate a humongous portion. I had a lamb chop from the Italian
restaurant in the Food Court, along with a mushroom stew. I ate all the lamb
and fries, and most of the coleslaw. I only drank a bit of the mushroom stew,
about 1/10, while I devoured the garlic bread (which was too hard). We saw the
“ Mist-walk” after. Lasers made images in the mist, like a little baby walking
around then growing up, or they made moving patterns like the waves. Lights
illuminated bubbles for a Milky Way effect, or they illuminated the mist for a
scene in the laser video. Fire erupted in the middle of the mist, which I find
amazing – imagine water and fire co-existing in the same place! Finally, the
show ended with a musical flourish and we walked to the Mandarin Oriental for a
good night’s sleep.
I really enjoyed the
Sentosa resort’s attractions on the third day. First, we did the Luge. The luge
is like a toboggan, except it has wheels and steering like a bicycle. Gravity
is the only force that moves the Luge; there is no motor or engine. Flying down
the racetrack, I thought that this was a lot more exciting than biking or
tobogganing. After that, we saw the 4-D shows: the “Extreme Log Ride” and the “Pirates”.
The “Extreme Log Ride” was mainly scary, and even though the safety video was
funny, it made you want to barf when you got off. “Pirates” was mainly just
people getting stabbed in the gut or invaded by crabs. I liked “Pirates” better
because it didn't shake you up and make you want to lose your lunch. Plus, it
was a lot funnier.
Today, my family is
back at home, and all trying to get some sleep in the night because of jet lag.
All in all, Singapore was a beautiful and exciting place to visit, but I still
like the feeling of home better.
