Sunday, March 23-Tuesday, March 25: ORD > HND > SIN + Botanic Gardens
Mr. E and I decided to Lyft rather than take the airport bus since we were dressed for our destination weather (e.g. warm and humid) rather than for the lingering Midwest winter and didn't want to be too cold while navigating the public transit option. Although the Polaris Club at O'Hare is currently closed for renovations, we got some extra benefits of premium beverage coupons and special chocolates when we went to the regular Lounge.
This was our first time on an ANA flight, and it was definitely the best Business Class experience we've had so far. The pods were extremely spacious and had privacy doors on the aisles that could be raised for sleeping. The dining menu offered a choice between Japanese or International cuisine. If I'd only known! The Japanese menu was seafood-based, but I'd ordered the usual special Asian vegetarian meal, which definitely wasn't as good as Mr. E's options. Next time...
During the flight, I watched two movies: a fun action / caper film The Experts and a rather silly but sweet Jackie Chan film Panda Plan. After the movies, I slept for about 6 hours and had just enough time for a 35-minute plane workout before we started getting ready for landing. The 15+ hour flight went by quickly!!!
Our flight departed O'Hare at 5:25pm on Sunday, March 23 and landed in Tokyo at 9:40pm on Monday, March 24. This meant we still had enough time for our daily Duolingo practice while we waited for our connecting flight in the ANA Lounge! I also found enough space for my daily yoga practice and took a stroll around the airport to finish off my 10,000 steps for the day as well. And I stocked up on some awesome Lucky Cat souvenirs at the shop near our departure gate!
The equipment for our connecting flight to Singapore was different, so the Business Class pods weren't quite as roomy, but I was still able to stretch out completely. I watched one more movie, the better-than-expected Bad Genius, before trying to snooze a bit more.
We landed a little early in Singapore, at 6:30am on Tuesday, March 25, and breezed through customs. As part of our hotel room package, we were met by a car at the airport and arrived at the wonderful Park Royal Pickering a little before 8am. Since we'd booked the reservation starting the night before, we were able to get into our room right away to unpack, settle in, workout (me) and nap (Mr. E), and still had time to enjoy breakfast in the Collection Club Lounge before beginning the rest of our first day in Singapore.
Our primary activity for the day was to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens, aka S'pore Botanic Gardens (that's how it was written on the way finding signs, which we both thought was pretty funny). We decided to take the MRT train and started off at the Chinatown Station, which was just two blocks from our hotel.
However, we then encountered some difficulties when we tried to refill our TransLink card from our previous visit -- the machines in the MRT only take "local" credit and debit cards. Huh??!! We had never encountered that sort of problem before in any public transit system. We learned that we could top off the card by using cash at some machines or potentially use a credit card at a 7-11, so we left the station and tried the 7-11 across the street. Which was closed for 45 minutes for lunch. --!!!-- Luckily, there was a bank nearby with several ATMs, so Mr. E withdrew some cash, which we needed to do for other parts of the trip anyway.
Back down into the station through a different entrance, which gave us access to more machines but none of them accepted cash. --!!!-- Instead, we had to find the ticket office, where unfortunately we encountered a very unpleasant and unhelpful staff person. We were hoping we could both use the same card, so I added $50 to the balance. But then when we asked, she very curtly told us "one card, one person," and there was no way to refund or split what we had just reloaded. So we had to buy a separate card for Mr. E. After the fact, we also realized that there are special cards for tourists that likely would have been more economical overall, but we were so put off by the woman's attitude that we got flustered and were just trying to finish the transaction as quickly as possible.
Once we finally had our cards, the ride to the Gardens was easy and nice and comfortable thanks to the air-conditioned train and stations. Entry to the main parts of the Gardens is free, so we strolled along the pathways around the lake in the direction of the National Orchid Garden (aka NOG), which I wanted to visit. Along the way, we encountered a variety of wildlife, including turtles and a bunch of monitor lizards.
The NOG required an entry fee, but it was definitely worth it to see the amazing range of orchids and have the chance to get some relief from the heat in the Cool House.
We purchased some souvenirs in the NOG gift shop and then headed back out into the main Gardens to catch the MRT back to our hotel. By the time we returned, it was mid afternoon and we were starting to drag a bit. We made time for afternoon tea in the Club and then a nap to help reset our body clocks.
The day finished up with the evening reception in the Club, which includes beer, wine, cocktails, and what would be considered "heavy appetizers," which always provided enough variety and quantity to constitute as our dinner. The shrimp dumplings definitely became a favorite of mine! We were both in bed before 9pm, although Mr. E did stay up a little later than I did to watch some local TV.
