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It wasn't an early start, but it wasn't particularly late either. We were checking out of our cute little hotel and transferring to 5* luxury - Edd had received 1 free night on his profile from Booking.com and we had saved it for our last night of travels. He had booked the Swiss Hotel, harbour view with the freebee and we needed to get over there, dump our bags and then have a little mince around Singapore.
We had breakfast in our hotel's restaurant this time, not across the road, and checked out - being recommended to walk as there was a one way road system that make such short distances a nuisance by car.
The walk turned out to only be 10 minutes and we checked into the Swiss hotel early; Edd had received a free night in a hotel up to a certain value, so we had saved it for our last night of travels, so we could have 1 night of luxury before reality set in again. We couldn't go to our room as it was only 10.30am, so we left our bags with a porter and went for a walk around the shopping centre that was attached to the hotel.
We could check in at 12pm, so went back to the hotel and were shown to a suite over looking the harbour, a view to die for. Literally. We couldn't open the sliding doors as 2 people had jumped to their deaths the month before, so as a result, no one was allowed to go onto the balcony anywhere, ever. The view was gorgeous all the same and we took pictures of everything; it helped that we where on the 52nd floor, so high above most of the sky rises with an unobstructed view. We then unpacked a few bits and pieces and then made our way down stairs to the concierge, to find out how to get to the natural botanical gardens that were free.
We first stopped at Raffles for a Singapore Sling - apparently the pub was iconic and where the cocktail was created. They were also the most expensive in the country, even if they were the best. 1 x kidney sold on the black market. Tick.
1 MRT and a bus later, we walked through a large gate and down a tarred pathway; cars used to be able to drive into the gardens and park by Swan Lake, but that had been prohibited resulting in a walkway that was four times the width it needed to be.
It was quite a warm day and we kept filling up our water bottle at the drinking water fountains that were placed strategically all around the park. We walked along the Lake and spotted turtles that had associated people with food, so swam right up to you hoping to be thrown a few morsels for an easy lunch. They were out of luck with us though, but there was another tourist there feeding the pigeons Oreo biscuits (of all things), but sneakily in her bag, as there were signs everywhere that the animals were not to be fed.
We sat under the shade of one of the trees over looking an area used for music concerts (small scale) and then decided to start heading back, as we were meeting Edd's friend for drinks again and still needed to get back, relax and get ready.
We detoured through the rain forest loop in the park and read about the trees in that section that had been there in the early 1900's that were already a formidable when discovered. One of the trees was only 1 of 50 left on the island and the one we were standing in front of, was the only tree that was accessible to the public.
There were a few others that were the only tree left on Singapore Island, or were no longer producing seeds, so were going to die out eventually and leave behind no natural replacements. It felt surreal to be standing in front of a tree that was the only one of its kind for hundreds of miles. The devastation of colonising Singapore was clearly evident when you walked through this lush jungle and imagined that all of Singapore was once like that; I was back to my theory that there was no hope for humanity, what ever we touch we ruin.
We got back to our hotel room having figured out that we only needed to take 1 bus back instead of change to the MRT half way through and relaxed for a few hours before getting ready and heading down to the lobby to meet with Edd's friend.
She was waiting for us at the concierge desk and we decided to go to the Equinox - the club attached to the Swiss hotel; her boyfriend was just leaving work and was going to join us shortly, so we went up stairs (well actually, the elevator) and got a table right at the window over looking the world. The sun was setting and bright red - a perfect ending to our 4 month travels.
Her boyfriend joined us half an hour later and we all decided to stay there instead of move on to a different pub/club as we had a great table with a good view and they had a drink special. We mostly wanted to stay for the drinks special.
We said good night and good bye after 10pm again, they had to be up early for work and we were exhausted from all the walking around we'd been doing all day. It was the last night we'd be going to bed in a random hotel room, from tomorrow, it was all systems go.
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