ArtScience Museum: Peep was back in meetings on the morning of our third day in Singapore. I walked with Peep and Paap to the Ritz, waiting while they stopped for breakfast along the way. Once the meetings were ready to begin, I headed out looking for something nearby to do. I ended up at the ArtScience Museum, where I paid the admission despite the fact that only one of the three display galleries was open at the time.
Essential Eames: Inside the museum I saw the "Essential Eames" exhibit, which chronicled the careers of Charles and Ray Eames, famous for their work in furniture design in the middle of the twentieth century. They were also known for their work in architecture, exposition design, toy making and film. With only one exhibit to see, I wasn't in the museum long and next headed over to the nearby Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.
Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands: After walking around a bit with no interest in entering any of the stores to shop, I decided to head to the food court and get a bite to eat, not knowing how much longer Peep's meetings would last. Of course, soon after I started eating Peep called saying the meetings were done and the group was ready to go for lunch.
Atop the Marina Bay Sands: I met Peep, Paap and the rest of the Lao attendees in the lobby of the Marina Bay Sands, arriving before they did as they looked for a place to park their van. For lunch we went to the Ku De Ta Chinese Restaurant located atop the Marina Bays Sands, rather than eating elsewhere and then paying the fee to the observation deck of the Sands. The restaurant was located one floor above the observation deck but didn't extend out to the edge, so the view below us was somewhat obscured by the observation deck, but we were still treated to sweeping vistas of the city and Singapore Strait far below.
Gardens by the Bay & Marina Barrage: After lunch, the entire ten person strong group of us headed over to the Gardens by the Bay, although not all of us opted to walk the 22-meter (72-foot) high OCBC Skyway. After traversing the 128-meter (140-yard) long grated walkway, we descended and then parted company. Peep and I went to the nearby Marina Barrage, a dam at the mouth of Marina Bay turning the bay into a large freshwater reservoir by preventing seawater from entering it. Peep even had the chance to play in the fountains located in front of the building.
The Cloud Forest: From the barrage, it was back into the Gardens by the Bay, where we decided to see one of the two conservatories there, the Cloud Forest. The inside of this glass dome was dominated by a mountain sporting the world's largest indoor waterfall. We rode an elevator to the top and followed the winding path back down as we learned about the cloud forest environs. Once out of the Cloud Forest, we spent the remainder of the daylight hours strolling through the gardens. Displays were set up detailing the function and various types of plants in the World of Plants section of the park.
Raffles Hotel: After dinner we headed back to the hotel, making a slight detour to see a famous landmark we hadn't yet seen in either of our visits to Singapore - Raffles Hotel. This colonial style hotel opened in 1887 and is where the popular cocktail, the Singapore Sling, was invented. We didn't go inside the hotel, but rather continued our walk back to our hotel.
Getting Home: With different flight schedules, Peep and I rode to the airport separately from Paap. We checked in and flew to Bangkok, where we again had to exit the international terminal to collect our luggage because Tiger Air couldn't check it through. However, this time we headed for the security station separating international arrivals and departures first, showing the guard there my credentials so I could continue straight to the departure gates while Peep took my passport and did the luggage transfer and check-in before meeting back up with me in the international terminal. This saved me the trouble of going through immigration in Thailand. Although Peep had to handle both of our checked-in bags, she was free of her carryon luggage, which I had with me. Needless to say, we don't plan on flying Tiger Air again unless it is the only airline on our itinerary, making it unnecessary to go through immigration just to check our luggage through.