Anniversary Trip to Singapore!

Mark and I really want to make it a habit of taking one big trip a year together. It's also nice to plan said trip around our anniversary! This year, we decided to give Singapore a shot and travel there via Space-A. You've already heard about some of my Space-A Adventures and this time was nothing short of another adventure!

We started our travels on the day of our anniversary, May 26th. We left for Yokota Air Base (on mainland Japan) early in the morning. It was the Patriot flight so we had a layover in Iwakuni, but overall it was painless. I think we made it to Yokota around 2 or 3 (honestly, I don't remember completely) and decided to veg out. We had big plans to go to dinner at the O'Club and have a few drinks, but (a) it was Sunday and (b) it was Memorial day weekend. That meant that nothing was open besides Chilis. We enjoyed it though because a chain American restaurant has become a "treat" for us since moving to Okinawa.

My "treat" from Chilis 

The next morning, at 4:30 AM, we had to check in for the flight to Singapore. It, too, was painless and we were on our way by 6:30-ish. It was as really long flight, but the flight attendant served food often and even had toys for the kids on the flight.

Too early to think straight.

Upon arriving in Singapore, we asked what the flight schedule was like for getting back to Japan. Well, we found out we were there during a "blackout week." Every other week for May and June had 3 flights going to Japan... just not ours. Ha! Go figure! We knew that something like that could happen so we didn't take it too badly. Instead, we hopped in a cab and headed to our first hotel, Albert Court Village Hotel.

Our room is the one in the back right corner.

The hotel was really nice. Our "upgrade" included 2 drinks during happy hour and breakfast every morning, which was awesome. Our room had a few issues (the air was "cool" but not cold and the sink was clogged the first day), but they fixed the sink as soon as we asked them to. The air never really got as cold as we would have liked it. However, our experience here was great. The staff was amazing and it was walking distance from Little India and numerous night markets.

The hotel has a little courtyard with a lot of outdoor seating and probably 6 restaurants. We never got around to trying any of them, but the menus looked delish and the whole atmosphere was really nice. Instead of eating at the hotel, we walked down the street to try some "Chicken Rice," a popular Singapore dish. (It is exactly what it sounds like and I wasn't terribly impressed. lol) After that, we ventured into Little India to see what it was all about.

 Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple

 Mark indulging in his first Singaporean beer, Tiger.

"In India, where flower garlands have an important and traditional role in every festival, the deities are decorated with garlands made from different fragrant flowers (often jasmine) and leaves. Both fragrant and non-fragrant flowers and religiously-significant leaves are used to make garlands to worship Hindu deities." - Wikipedia

After having some amazing naan and some chilled brews, we headed back for the hotel to have some down time. During this time we watched Singapore's tourist channel and found out about a place called Clark Quay. It's a covered courtyard/sidewalk area that is packed full of restaurants, bars, and clubs. We wrote it down as a "to-do" on our trip.... and then decided "to-do" it that night. Ha!

We stopped in at the hotel lobby to have our complimentary cocktails first! 

Enjoying some Irish beer and shepherds pie for dinner! 

This is Clark Quay. It was really pretty and a lot of fun!! 

There is literally a restaurant for every culture represented here. 

After we walked around for a while, I was beat! We taxied it back to Albert Court and called it a (fun) night in Singapore!