Merlion

Tuesday, March 3rd

We got up this morning and had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. Great fruit! We did a tour of the city and saw the sites. First we saw the Merlion - which is what it sounds like - a mermaid and a lion captured in stone. Not sure why they have this - guess I missed that part of the tour - but it's down on the river and allows for a nice view of the water front. We also went to a Chinese temple and had lunch at Raffles Hotel. Raffles was the Brit who founded what is today Singapore and there is a colonial hotel built in his name. We had a great lunch there but some of us learned quickly Singapore's strategy of taxing behavior they want to deter....such as drinking. A beer set people back $12 USD each. Not a cheap way to spend an afternoon or an evening.

Tonight we went with a couple people went to Little India for dinner. Walking over there was an experience. If you closed your eyes you would not have known you were in Singapore but maybe a little further west actually in India. The streets were filled with stalls selling saris, flowers, and spices. We let Faheem, who is Indian, handle the ordering and he did not disappoint.

Brian and I went home with a crew after dinner and crashed - between the Merlion, $12 beers, and Indian food we were done. So far we really enjoy Singapore. It is amazingly safe and culturally diverse.