The area we were in was obviously all about the shopping. Some very high-end names mixed in with a few more down to Earth stores...Dior, Tiffany & Co., Jimmy Choo for example. And then there was Toys 'R Us! The architecture and design was beautiful. There was a building that was supposed to look like a flower, lotus blossom, I think I overheard someone say. One was supposed to look like a durian, which is the smelliest, most disgusting, foul fruit I have ever had the displeasure to be near!
We took the subway all around. It's much easier than trying to park...once you get it figured out! We must have taken the same 2 trains back and forth between stations 4 times before we realized how to get where we were going! :) I think the kids enjoyed their first adventure on a train...they were all smiles!
Our lunch choices for American food were the typical fast food places and Chilis, Hooters, and Hard Rock Cafe. We walked around for awhile and settled on Hooters. Ugh! It's no different here than at home. First, I should say, I'm not a fan of their food anyway. There isn't anything special about it. My burger was burnt to a crisp! But at least I got my belly full!
After we ate, we went to Chinatown. Can someone say tourist trap! It was full of I <3 Singapore shirts, keychains, coffee cups, etc. All poorly made I'm sure. The people watching was the best part of Chinatown. We sat down for a drink in one of the restaurants and there were what appeared to be a group of college guys getting sloppy drunk. They were wearing silly hats and flirting with the waitress. We all got a kick out them. Skinny jeans are really in here too! Men everywhere in skinny jeans! YIKES! I'm all for a nice fitting pair of jeans on a man, but NOT skinny jeans. To each their own I guess! I made a comment about the fashion and Tatum said we probably looked stupid to them! While we were walking through a women, probably a tourist from somewhere else in Asia, took a picture of Tucker. Everyone seems to love my little blond haired, blue eyed man! :o) He gets a little shy at times. I think he is unsure of the attention. Him and Claire definitely stand out in the crowd here. It is sure different being in the minority! Everyone is super friendly and nice though and communication hasn't been a real problem...yet!
There was one full alley/road that was full of Chinese food places! Boy I wished we had waited to eat! It smelled delicious! We continued walking and heard drums and wandered into a temple. I'm not sure if it was Indian or Hindu, but they were performing some ritual with tree branches and flowers, burning incense. It smelled fantastic. There was a sign out from asking you to remove your shoes and pay 3 dollars for photography. They must be used to the tourists. We watched for awhile, but I have to admit I felt like an intruder on their private ceremony. I wouldn't appreciate people coming into my church back home and snapping pictures during a baptism or service! After we left there, Cody had another temple he wanted to show us, so we walked on. We ended up at a Monastery I think. It was so intricate in design! Bright colors, gold leaf everywhere, and so neat and clean. There were tabled lined up inside with books on them...maybe a school for young monks?!?! Very cool thing to actually see in person!
After that we headed back toward the car...with a pitstop for some STARBUCKS! We've been drinking instant coffee since we got here and man was that heaven! I told Cody it was the best part of my day! Haha!
So we load up, all exhausted and begin the drive home. We were all prepared for a long wait to get back across the border...and to our surprise it was fairly short! But Nathaniel, he was doing poorly! When we left our parking garage, we put in our home address and when we got to the border on the Singapore side, he said we had "arrived at our destination!" Liar! We decided to turn him off until we got thru the border crossing because he obviously had a few drinks at Hard Rock while we were site seeing! ;)
Cut to the Malaysian side of the border crossing...we are through and now we know we only have maybe a 45 minute drive home baring any unforeseen traffic or detours. What does Nathaniel want us to do?? Turn around and go back...he's obviously still drunk! We spent 2 1/2 hours driving around in circles, trying to find our way home! Over half of that time Nathaniel was telling us to take the next left and go the wrong way. I kept threatening to throw him out the window! Of course I didn't because I knew it would be costly to replace him and I had hopes he would sober up! Finally after listening to him give us wrong directions for what felt like forever...Cody put him out of his misery! ;) He now has permanent brain damage and will no longer be getting us lost. We will just use a regular old street map and road signs!
We ended up following the road signs to get back home, which is no small feet because these people don't prune the trees and most of them are half blocked by tree branches and crap! In all the crazy drivers, we had to slow way down so we could see the signs and make exits in time! Cody and I navigated the crazy roads together and although we took the long way around, we got home! We make a pretty good team!
Nathaniel, he's out...in Cody's words..."If Nathaniel could give directions as well as he can spell, we'd have been home a long time ago!"
The Monestary or school...which ever
Still the Monestary
China Town
Cheap souviners
Walking to China Town
Hooters was down there in all those cool colored buildings. You can take boat tours. Maybe next time.
The front building is Louis Vittion...a little out of my price range! The back one is the one that is supposed to be shaped like a flower.
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