Our fourth day in Singapore landed on a Monday. We had been running around and seeing the sights in Singapore and now it was a day to do some not-so-fun things. Well, only one not-so-fun thing really…It was our only day to find the Thai embassy and apply for our visitors visas.
For those of you that have never had to do visa runs, each country has an allotted amount of time a tourist is allowed to stay. In Thailand the time for a landing visa (for Americans) is 30 days, but for a small fee and the time of filling out a few papers, one can get a visitors visa that is 60 days and can be extended without having to leave the country. We had to find our way to the Thai Embassy in Singapore and drop off our forms and payment and pick up our hopefully approved visas the next day. In Singapore you have to drop off your paperwork between the hours of 9:00 am and 11:00 am and then have to pick it up the next day between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm. It was a short window of time and we COULD NOT mess up.
We decided to take a taxi to the embassy. As we waited and tried to flag a taxi down we realized that they would only pick up on our street at a taxi stand near the SMRT station. So we went and waited in a line for a taxi. It was finally our turn and a taxi came up with “On Call” on its little sign on the top, the guy behind us cut in front of us and said, “Sorry i called it”. Hrmph, we were a little bummed, but soon after we got a taxi that drove us to the closest taxi stand near the embassy. What we realized later is that the train station would have been just as close as the taxi stand that we were dropped off at. Oh well, it was a learning experience that it is always better to take the train in Singapore.
Our time in the Thai embassy went quickly and even though Chad had to run and make copies of our flight in to Thailand (they only say the flight out of Thailand on the website) it went fairly smooth.
We were STARVING and so we decided to eat breakfast at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf across the street. Then we walked around the mall/shopping center that the CBTL was in. We were so very excited and happy to find organic and all-natural stores (2 of them!!!) that carried all-natural non-aluminum deodorant! It was the first time we had found it since we left the States! And we only had to pay S$12 for each ($9-10 USD). And now you all know how important all natural deodorant is to me, and I feel slightly awkward. But it was probably the highlight of the day for me!
We headed back to our house and gave Z her first proper nap since being in Singapore. We all needed an off day I think. We let ourselves rest for about an hour and then were up and ready to get going.
We made our way to Little India, which is another easy ride on the SMRT away. We love Indian food and our main reason for going was to find a place to eat dinner. We walked around for a bit, past the gold shops, mini-markets, fruit and veggie stands. Some of the buildings were beautifully painted and decorated, some looked pretty run down. Overall though the area almost seemed to be a step back in time, there were no skyscrapers, in fact most of the buildings looked to be 4 floors or less and the buildings seemed old and worn.
We chose a vegetarian restaurant called Komala Vilas Restaurant which smelled divine. We were shown to a table on the second floor and given menus. there was not that much to choose from (I didn’t see the HUGE menu on the wall to the left of me that offered all the popular Indian favorites such as masala and paneer, oops) and none of it was anything I had ever tried. I ended up ordering the vegetable briyani plate and chad ordered the rice plate. We ordered Z a cheese dosai. Our food arrived and we dug in. It was probably the best indian food I have ever had. Z’s dosai was served to her like a teepee and she ate almost the whole thing. Not only was it wonderfully delicious, but every time we finished one of the vegetable dishes, they would come by and give us another spoonful. I do not even want to thing about how much I actually ate. It was worth it though.
We decided a walk was in order after eating so much. We took the SMRT to the Singapore Botanic Gardens (which was nicely situated two stops from our house). It was nearly dark when we arrived, so we walked in the cooler temperatures of the evening. I was impressed with layout and upkeep of the park. The grounds were immaculate and we were able to walk safely as it was well-lit. We decided that we would need to come to the gardens again, as there was a children’s area that was already closed when we arrived there. So more on the Botanic Gardens in my next post.
We had been running through Singapore, packing in so much everyday. This was a great day to just take it easy and set a slower pace. Or at least we thought we had, looking back, we still did quite a lot of fun things.
Friday will be my last post about Singapore (unless we travel there again). I have been keeping notes on what new things to write about here in Phuket, so stay tuned.
So, I have given away one of my silly highlights of our trip (Hooray for all-natural deodorant!), now it’s your turn. What has been something you have truly been over-the-top excited about while traveling, or just in your normal life that some people may think is silly? Leave a comment and share in my awkwardness. Thanks for reading and sharing all!
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