Gardens by the Bay and Fireworks

Saturday morning was perfect. The kids woke up in decent moods and we took our time getting out of the house. Ted took them swimming downstairs while I posted a blog and then sat around reading a book. We all napped--even me! Oh, but Ted went for a run in the heat of the day. When the kids woke up from naps, we headed out to Gardens by the Bay to hear the Singapore Symphony Orchestra play. After that, we walked along a path that took us through the Marina Bay Sands (that triple tower with the ship-like object on top that is actually a giant shopping center, casino, and hotel) to the other side where we watched some fireworks and a laser show and ate some Indian food.

First, the Gardens by the Bay. http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html A lot of people had the same great idea today because it was packed. Ted had decided to drive because he is getting brave about that now. He says it takes 3 days of driving to feel comfortable and now he mostly gets it. I've yet to try it. When did I become such a wimp? Anyway, we parked in some overflow lot (free!) and walked to the entrance gate. Along the way, we saw all the trees getting ready to be planted. Along every road and highway here there is beautiful vegetation. There are always crews out trimming, weeding, planting. It was strange to see so many trees lined up, ready to go.

This is a view of the Marina Bay Sands along the walkway.

Here you can see the tree sculptures at Gardens by the Bay and the entrance gate. You can take an elevator to near the top of the trees and there is a walkway connecting some of them. We are saving that for another day.

Can you spot the paratroopers above the building? We wondered if they were going to land on top but they floated on down somewhere behind the Bay Sands.

Ella was thrilled to get her I <3 Singapore t-shirt. It is very popular and she spoke to everybody else she saw wearing one today. Quite a few. I couldn't find a kids' shop so this one is an adult small. (Here you can also see those paratroopers in the distance)

Here are those tree things. They are up to 16 storeys high and at night they light up along with some music that fills the park. http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/attractions/supertree-grove.html

Zoe and Wyatt have new t-shirts too. They are suddenly obsessed with all things Spiderman and it is difficult to get Wyatt to leave the house in something that doesn't have him on it. This is their second running day wearing the shirts. 

There is a section of the Gardens that has these animal-shaped bushes. The kids wanted their picture taken by all of them but I'll only post a few.

We found our way to the section called The Meadow and posed with some animals before we took our spot to listen to the Symphony that had just started playing.

Here is our spot. The symphony played some Wagner, Tchaikovsky (which Ella recognized as being part of The Nutcracker), Smetana, Bizet, and Elgar. Very weird sitting outside in a garden at a non-graduation ceremony and hearing Pomp and Circumstance. 

Wyatt could be a little conductor. He clapped his hands or waved his pointed finger around to the rhythm the whole time.

We were sitting there, calmly enjoying soaking up culture, when we see these helicopters flying in the distance carrying the Singapore flag. Then we realize that they must be practicing for the upcoming Singapore National Day on the 9th of August. That must be what the paratroopers were doing too. The National Stadium is right behind there.

30 seconds after seeing that, we hear a loud rumbling in the sky that is definitely not thunder. We look up to see fighter jets flying in formation. I can't quite explain how loud this was or how low they were flying. We could see the flames coming out the back of the jets and I could smell the jet fuel. I was nervous. Wyatt buried his head in my lap. They flew all kinds of formations, one even flew at us then straight up into the sky as far as we could see. The symphony conductor joked after the song that he had arranged that for us. Everyone clapped and cheered and you could feel their national pride. It was warming. Well, it was either that or the temperature, not sure.

Ella put on Ted's aviators so she would be ready to pilot her own jet.

By the way Wy's face looks here, this must have captured the start of another jet flyover.

People walking through the supertrees. Elizabeth, I thought of you.

After the symphony's performance, everyone stood up and started walking quickly to the laser show that happens at Marina Bay every night twice weekly and three times on weekends. We had to cross some water.

Then we got into the queue for the escalator. Yes, there are many outdoor escalators here. Outdoor AC too.

At the top, we crossed a footbridge that took us into this building, the Marina Bay Sands. There are tons and tons of people doing the same thing as us, and this is the first time I really felt like we stood out. We do look very differently that the rest of the crowd.

Inside.

That's a bar down there. And some of the casino. Look fun, Mom?

Once through, we had to use another footbridge to cross another road. This led us to the top of the shopping center part of Marina Bay.

A pretty reflective wall.

The girls on the footbridge. That's the Singapore Flyer in the distance.

Part of the skyline for the Financial District. And a cheshire cat moon.

The kids were dancing and ready for the show.

While we waited, we could look down into the National Stadium where the practice for the National Day was still ongoing. There were thousands of people each holding and waving these glowing lights. It was cool to see, but the pictures didn't look very good. Before the lasers, there was a 10-minute fireworks display.

And then, the camera batteries died. So no laser show here. But you can watch the one I linked to on youtube in the last post. It's the same show. At this point, it's about 9 PM and we're tired and hot and thirsty (why are there no water fountains in Singapore?) but the kids' reactions were so worth it. Ella was oohing and ahhing and calling this the best day of her whole life. Zoe and Wyatt were jumping up and down agreeing and clapping. It was a beautiful night. And we sat down and ate our Indian food and then walked the 3K back to the car with barely any complaining. It was the best day of Ella's life and, I have to say, it was right up there for me too.