Singapore Memories Part 2 - Visitors!

We've been really lucky to have been visited by loads of lovely people across the last 1.5 years, and we've explored loads of Singapore, the surrounding islands. Here's some just from the last year.

Aaron and Corey

We had easily one of the best meals of my life with these guys at Waku Ghin in Marina Bay Sands, and finished up the memorable night at the Resident's bar at the top of the Sands, drinking whiskey and looking over Singapore.Truly magical night to top off a fun-filled visit from these guys! We also had our first visit to the superlative Singapore Zoo, visited the Mint Toy Museum and discovered the joys of home delivered McDonalds breakfast to treat hangovers. (I totally stole these photos from Aaron's Facebook page, as my photos from this visit are currently in another country)

Some undoubtedly high class champagne being swilled from plastic cups by the pool :)

Marina Bay drinks on the last night of their visit

Mum and Dad Thompson

Mum and Dad actually visited twice - in March 2015 and then again in August 2015. We did some river cruising, introduced them to durian and satay street (and the beer ladies at satay street), hung out at the kopitiam and had kaya toast, visited the botanic/orchid gardens, visited the Night Safari for the first time, and floated around the lazy river in our $1.50 water park. We also finally got to tick a visit to the fart-smelling Sungei Buloh wetlands reserve off my list, and I found out there was an inside to the Buddha Tooth Relic Museum (and of course saw the tooth itself). Mum and Dad and I found our local roti place together and tried our first marmite pork ribs. They were here to see Singapore turn 50 with us, and we ate coconut rolls and watched the military display broadcast on TV.

Visiting the Botanic Gardens

Mum going in for a durian kiss with Dad struggling to cope with the reality of the Durian Experience

Ma and Da Murray

Right before Eoin's mum headed for a hip operation, these guys came for a 10 day visit. We wanted to show them a little more of south east asia (not just "Asia Lite" in Singapore), so we dragged them to a beach in Phuket for a weekend, where me made them sleep in tents on the sand! We had such a great weekend walking, swimming, eating, walking, swimming and eating! Back in Singapore, we had a great time eating loads of new food with Liam, found some accidental fireworks for SEA games in Marina Bay, got the first visit into the Sultan's Mosque, and I think these guys were our most enthusiastic pool users!

Murrays at sunset on Mai Khao Beack in Phuket

Eoin and Catherine at the top of the Cloud Forest in Gardens by the Bay

McGoo

Eoin's best friend came to visit for about a week, and she was such a great visitor! She and Eoin share a pathological hatred of photos, so this is literally the only photo I got of them all week. We had a day at Universal Studios Singapore with McGoo, where we got to ride the best rollercoaster I've been on in years (and maybe ever) - the Cylon half of the Battlestar Galactica rollercoaster. We also forced poor McGoo to climb Mt Faber so that we could ride the cable car to Sentosa, and saw the very patriotic SG50 (i.e. Singapore 50th birthday celebration) version of the Supertree Grove light show. We had our first (and only) visit to the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel with McGoo and my first Singapore Sling! We visited the Night Festival and saw the Museum lit up with green eskimos before our brazillian BBQ dinner and the crowds chased us back home. She also taught me how to knit (again)!

So happy to be at Universal Studios

Simon

OK, Simon was only here for a few hours, but I got to do a memorable first with him - I got to go to the 1-Altitude bar at the top of One Raffles! There was a live band playing Crowded House when we got up there, and even though it was a little hazy, I was completely amazed at the view! It was so much better than I thought, and if you look in the background of this picture you can see we're actually looking down on Marina Bay Sands! Not an every-night place, but I totally enjoyed our quick visit.

A schooner of Singapore Sling (my second ever) at the top of Singapore

Fletch and Fi
Our last visitors (unless anyone is bored in the next 5 days), Fletch and Fi were here for just over a week over the F1 Grand Prix time. Unfortunately, they visited right as Singapore got coated by some pretty extreme haze, so some of our outdoor plans had to be re-thought. Also, Singapore kind of looked like a Silent Hill game / ghosty movie, so some of the prettiness (particularly at night) was a bit lost from some of the lookout points. We got our first look at the re-painted Sultan Mosque in Arab Street, got to go inside my FAVOURITE building in Singapore (Parkview Square, aka Gotham building), visited a cat cafe, ate Singaporean, Malay, Vietnamese and Taiwanese noodles, got to go inside the Sri Veeramakaliamman temple.

Fi and Fletch's "Whole New World" Moment in Arab St

Wow, it's the world's highest indoor waterfall!

Wall of Fame! 

We decorated our windows with our visitors (most cartoons by Eoin) so that we could remember the people who bothered to come all the way around the world to visit us. Thanks for all the company over the last little while - it's so good to have people come to refresh your wonder at some of the amazing things (and foods) available here, and look at things through other people's eyes. And any excuse to eat Satay St/Chilli crab/beef brisket is always welcome :)