So Saturday was a big day for me; I went to Little India in the morning, hung by the pool in the mid day, and then the big event; I went to the "Gardens by the bay" designed by an amazing, cutting edge architect named Zaha Hadid. I just happened to be in another of her buildings' two weekends ago when Daniel set us up a weekend in Cincinnati. So how cool is it that I saw two of her projects within 2 weeks of each other! Thank you Daniel for making that happen :-)
Little India was a little "off" for me when I first got there, mostly because when you get off the metro, it's a normal neighborhood, it's not like they have a sign that says "yo- tourists- cool stuff this way!" :-) So I had to walk around for a bit and walk down some alleys to find the "real" little India. But when I found it, I saw it everywhere! It was crowded covered walkways, filled with everything you could imagine. The whir of meat saws cutting the freshest meats, the smell of roses and marigolds from the hanging floral strands, and curries and incense everywhere. I wandered streets for 2 hrs. So many stores, so many jewelery stores! And the best part- it was real! These were Indian immigrants in these stalls selling goods, and the same buying them! This was not a display set up for the tourist trade. I hadn't seen anything like this in a very long time. So much of Dubai was just set up for Tourists, as is Vienna, and Istanbul. But this was real, and fun. After two good hrs of walking though the sun was getting really hot and I had enough, so headed to back to enjoy the infinity pool and get a nap before the big event.
So what was this big event??? Well;
These are the pictures from the bridge that gets you over to the "Gardens by the Bay". The bridge was soooo crowded with tourists as this was still Chinese Year year (going on till February 10), but I muscled my way towards the side of the bridge and got some pictures. Not that it was hard- I'm like a friggin giant compared to most of the people hear- they basically bounce off me then look up at me! lol
The gardens are free, but you have to pay 30SGD to get into the 2 conservatories; the Floral Dome, and the Cloud Forest. I had heard from the main server at the lounge that the Cloud Forest was "a must see! They have a waterfall!!" she said excitedly. So of course, I headed there.
So this was stunning. I know I keep saying "AMAZING" and stunning, but this city is so amazing! Lol It was such a shock to see such a mountain of greenery- litterally a mountain of greenery. I had pre-read that this was the worlds largest conservatory with no interior supports, and I believe it after seeing this mammoth green space! The waterfall was cool, but what was even more incredible was the lower space, where the waterfall flows into a lush green garden that looks just like Jurassic Park!
Finally, the sun was setting, and so I headed to the Trees...
The buildings, again, soooo cool! I can't believe I was able to view her architecture in living color and style!! They are so futuristic, and- I'm going to say it! STUNNING!
So the trees- they are solar power panels that help provide power to the park- so self-sustaining environment. They are also gigantic planters, with all sorts of plants growing on their trunks. At 7 and 8, they have a musical light show, and I was just in time for the show!
I got some pictures, and then some Iphone video, and the put them down. I realized that alot of moments lately are missed because we (i) and others are so focused on capturing the moment that we dont' really experience the moment. So Put them away, and just experienced it. And wow, it was so cool. The music was all symphony, new age, and the trees were lite up to the exact moments that build in the music. It was great, and again, another night in Singapore, like no other in the world. :-)
China town makes little India look like a... I don't know- it dwarfs little india in every way! There are rows of streets with shops and booths, all full of basically the same thing, but it's fun to shop around. It was a great night, and I found some great cheap souveniors, but also a STUNNING- stunning gift for Daniel that I found back in the far back corner booth that was just an old couple selling some stuff, much more real stuff, like estate sale esq. So that made my night :-)
We had some great sushi Friday night, but Thursday- we had the real deal: Chili Crab, Pepper Crab and other seafood at this place called Long Beach on Dempsey Hill. So Chili crab is THE thing to get here- a whole crab- they empty the shell, then stuff all the legs in it, so it looks like a flower arraingment, then smother it- and I mean SMOTHER it with either Chili's in a tomato sauce, or in the other, tons of pepper. It was the messiest meal I think I've ever eaten, but really so good! With the chili crab- they give you biscuts that you can dip in the remaining sauce, and it is sooo good. Then we also had these Oyesters that were oddly shaped- very long and narrow, with noodles on top. They were ok, but the best was definitely the crab.
Here's a picture of me and Sona with our Bib's on :-)
And the grand opening. It was great- lots of customers who had been waiting for the store to open, and customers who were just happy to find a great colorful, new, and fun store in the mall! This is such a great company to work for because it has such good recognition around the world, and it's such good products that everyone that shops is happy :-)
After we opened and did all the photos, the opening team went for Tea and scones at a place down the mall. Such a nice morning.
From left; Bill (architect), Me, Sona (Business Manager), Marc (Dir of Merch), Carl (architect), Matt (Marketing).
So on a funny note- as I re-read my posts for Singapore- I had a lot of "BIG EVENTS" here- but each thing I did was so different and surprising, that they all seemed like big events. The LBrands guys and I had drinks and dinner last night and as we were sitting there in a skyline bar overlooking the Marina we talked about our experience the past week(s). Although we all love Istanbul, the traffic is horrendous, but we still all rated it our #1 city. But as we all talked, we all came to the conclusion that this was the new #1. Gorgeous sites here, not historical, but contemporary and stunning. The city; so clean, no traffic, fast and efficient subways. And what really locked it down was it's proximity to everything asian pacific; Phuket, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Bali, or Bangkok- all from 1hr flight to 3 hour flight away. Who knows; if we get crazy busy over here and add 30-50 stores, we might end up having a lot of people asking for assignments :-)))
