We finished packing up the last items in our room and were off the Millennium shortly after 7AM, but not before being stopped at the exit by a crew member asking if we had received notice in the app it was clear to leave. We told him they had just made an announcement that groups 1 and 2 were clear to exit. We claimed our package that was confiscated in Yokohama and found our luggage. Oddly, we had to scan it all at the security lanes, which meant we could have walked off with it, even though they told us we could only walk off with small luggage. We made the long walk to the taxi stand where we caught a cab to the Park Regis by Prince Hotel. We dropped off our bags with the concierge and went upstairs to check in. We got a little worried when the clerk said the hotel was checked in 100 percent but then she said that meant our room would not be ready yet, which we expected anyway

We walked down to Clarke Quay station and took the subway to Gardens by the Bay. The gardens sit on reclaimed land that greatly expanded the footprint of Singapore. We arrived too early for the attractions to be open so we found a bench along the waterfront to relax before walking through some of the free public gardens.

Our first stop was Cloud Forest and we were the first guests inside. This climate-controlled dome has one of the world's tallest waterfalls as its primary attraction, which cascades 30 meters down a man-made mountain. The dome is designed to replicate misty tropical mountains. We went to the top via elevator and made our way down through a series of elevated aerial walkways. The attraction currently features a Jurassic World overlay. This event brings to life the cinematic wonder of the Jurassic World film franchise through life-sized animatronic dinosaurs nestled within the iconic cooled conservatory surrounded by lush greenery.

We took a short break after Cloud Forest and then walked to the Flower Dome, which holds the Guinness World Record for the largest glass greenhouse with over 3300 glass panels covering a space equivalent to 75 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Unfortunately the crowds had caught up with us, especially several groups of boisterious school children. We made our way through the various gardens featuring plants and flowers from around the world. The current special exhibit focused on sunflowers.

Unfortunately, the Floral Fantasy garden was closed on the day we visited so we did not get to see the suspended floral bouquets or the tiny poison dart frogs.

We left Flower Dome and headed to the Supertree Grove where preparations were underway for their Christmas overlay. The 18 "supertrees" rise over 50 meters tall and are a unique way the gardens grow and display plants with bromeliads, ferns, orchids and other tropical plants climbing their way up the vertical gardens. Seven of the trees are used to harvest solar energy used to power the Gardens by the Bay complex.

An elevator took us to the OCBC Skyway, a suspended 128m long walkway between two of the Supertrees at 22 meters above the ground which gave us great views of Singapore harbor as well as the rest of the gardens.

After returning to the ground, we headed back up into the tallest of the Supertrees to the Observatory with its two-level observation platform as tall as a 16-story building. The open-air rooftop deck gave us an unobstructed views of the Gardens, Singapore's cityscape and Marina Reservoir, while the Observatory Deck provided a 360-degree view of all of the surrounding area.

We walked from Gardens by the Bay to the Marina Bay Sands hotel with its three towers joined at the top by a bridge with an pool. We passed over the Dragonfly bridge and across the street to the mall, which we wandered for awhile, but it was all high-end shops, most of which we have back home. We finally decided on Yardbird for lunch to have some of their fantastic fried chicken.

We returned to our hotel and checked in and had our luggage brought up and we relaxed for a little while before heading back out for the food tour we had booked for the evening. It ended up being a private tour which started in Telok Ayer. Our guide took us to the Fuk Tak Chi Museum, one of the oldest former temples in Singapore dating back to 1820. He explained how Telok Ayer used to be the Singapore waterfront until the goverment reclaimed land to expand the territory. He talked about how his grandparents came to Singapore from China like so many did in the 1800s. We walked out the back of the temple where he showed us that the temple now serves an entrance to the Amoy Hotel built behind it.

We walked through the streets of Singapore to Lau Pa Sat, which translates to 'old market'. This private hawker center sells local dishes day and night, but in the evening, satay sellers set up shop along the lane outside and seafood stalls peddle chili crab and steamed cockles. Lau Pa Sat is more of a commercial hawker market as it is private, unlike others which are licensed by the government, so it had more of a food court vibe. We sampled three local dishes, starting with popiah, a fresh spring roll made from a thin crepe-like wheat flour skin with savory fillings. We had one with chili and one without and J. R. favored the spicier one. Next was Kway Teow, with stir-fried noodles, egg and Chinese sausage and a sweet dark sauce. Finally, we had Hokkien Mee, which was noodles in a seafood broth with shrimp and squid.

It was raining fairly hard as we left Lau Pa Sat and our guide arranged for a van to take us to Gardens by the Bay. This was billed as a walking tour so we think he did this on his own and we were very grateful. We found a place to stand under some trees to stay out of some of the rain and our guide offered Janie a towel to sit on the wet rocks. It was a bit of a wait but he said we had to be there early to get this good viewing spot. The show had lights on the Supertrees synchronized to Broadway music such as The Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miserables and Chicago, including local artists' rendition of favourites like 'I Dreamed A Dream' and 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina'.

After Rhapsody, we stopped at the Jurassic Nest Food Hall at Gardens by the Bay for two more food items. The first was a pork char sui, which we did not really care for as the pork was overcooked. The rice that came with it was very good. The highlight was the shaved ice dessert with ice cream, which we enjoyed very much.

We walked from Gardens by the Bay back across the Dragonfly Bridge to the Marina Bay Sands hotel again and out to a spot near the "floating" Apple store to watch the nightly Spectra light and water show. This free 15-minute display over the water at Event Plaze combines water fountain jets, visual projections, lasers and mist effects, all set to an orchestral soundtrack.

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