Satay by the Bay

We are incredibly lucky to have friends who got us rooms at the Marina Bay Sands hotel (MBS).  We tried to book a simple room.  The starting rate was S$700 (about US$516) a night.  We were gifted 2 nights in two monstrous suites on the 51st floor in Tower 3 on two prime nights by my friend Edward and Alice. One suite faces the city with expansive view of the city center and Marina Bay.  The other suite faces south towards the sea and Indonesia.  Our stay there were on the eve and Singapore's National Day, which is on August 9.  Why is the date significant?  Because on National Day there will be a big fireworks show at the Marina Bay, which we will be able to see clearly out of the windows.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Casino and Convention Center

View from the suite facing the Marina Bay

Our plan for the day is for Eddy and Mai-lon and Doris and I to put our luggage into the rooms, if they are ready, and meet the rest of the family at Gardens By The Bay.  We had breakfast again at TB hawker center.  The young families went to checkout a nearby McDonald's.  Steven went to the GE office to meet some of his colleagues.

Example of a McDonald's sandwich with local flavors

The Gardens By The Bay was built about 10 years ago and today is one of Singapore's premier tourist attractions.  There are two main buildings - the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest.  They are surrounded by a beautiful park with "Giant Trees."  You can buy admissions tickets to the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, and a walkway among the Giant Trees.

We all met at the Flower Dome, where there are plants from all regions of the world.  I have been there multiple times but the plants and flowers still impress me.

Mother and Daughter

A Group Photo

They found a lost boy!

Eddy and Mai-lon

Doris and Esme

Next we moved to the Cloud Forest.  It's a closed environment that simulates a rain-forest.  The humidity is maintained at about 80-90%, while the temperature is around 70-80F.  It features one of the tallest indoor waterfalls in the world.  You start by taking the elevator and escalator to the top and slowly walk down the ramp.

A Group Picture in front of the waterfall and dragon (from Avatar)

Ella, Esme, Shawn and Ezra with MBS in the background

Doris and Meng

Strolling down the ramp

Son and Father

Eddy and Mai-lon with MBS in the background

By the time we finished we were terribly hungry.  We walked 5 minutes to a food court within the Gardens By The Bay.  It's called Satay by the Bay.  What is Satay?

Satay, with cucumbers, onions and sauce

A Group Picture in front of Satay by the Bay

Ezra, a boy among equals, enjoying a meal with relatives

Satay is a skewer with any kind of meat, ranging from mutton, chicken, beef, or even tofu.  It is a popular dish in Southeast-Asia, and may have been started in Indonesia.  The sauce is usually some kind of peanut sauce, with a slightly sweet and spicy taste.  A side-dish of cucumber, onions or pressed rice (called lontong or ketupak) accompanies the satay.  

I grew up eating satay and still love it today.  It is one of my favorite dishes anywhere.  I used to eat satay at a place called the Satay Club by Beach Road in Singapore.  The Malay vendors are lined up on one side of a dead-end street, which also serves as a bus terminal.  On the other side of the street are buses, either finishing their routes or getting ready to start their routes.  You sit in front of a little stall manned by a satay vendor.  You tell him what type you want - mutton, beef or chicken.  He doesn't sell pork satay because he is Muslim.  Then he takes 10 sticks and put them on a mini-charcoal grill behind him and started roasting them.  After eating, he counts how many sticks you have consumed and put the remainder back in his stock.  He then tells you how much they costs.  They used to cost 10 cents per stick.

It was not the most sanitary environment but that was over 60 years ago.  With the fumes from the buses and dusts, perhaps that's why it tasted so good.  Due to development in Singapore, the Satay Club has been moved around.  Today it is supposed to be at the Lau Par Sat, or Old Market, not far from MBS.  However, you can eat satay at almost any hawker center.  There is a version sold mostly by Chinese, which uses pineapple for their sauce.  Here you can get pork satay.

The rooms at MBS entitle us to a few meals:  buffet breakfast, afternoon tea, and happy hour.  After we checked in to the rooms, some of us went down for afternoon tea.  After that, another group went down for happy hour.  There were hor d'ouevres in both events and we made full use of the food and drinks.

Afternoon Tea for the Ladies

Tasty Hor D'ouevres

Happy Hour for Happy People, with some wine of course

One of the highlights of staying at the MBS is swimming in their Infinity Pool on the 57th floor rooftop.  You may have seen pictures or heard of it but to actually swim in it is quite an experience.  The kids did not waste any time swimming in the Infinity Pool.

At the edge of the pool, overlooking the city center

The kids are comfortable in the pool, having taken lessons

The hotel is quite restrictive in allowing the number of guests up in the pool.  Only registered guests, with the proper passes, are allowed.  We were able to registered two adult guests per suite plus another 1 or 2 child.  Overcrowding was a big problem in the early days of the hotel.  This rule avoids overcrowding.

In the evening the parents went to the Casino side food court to buy food for everyone.  Doris and I went escape  to Chinatown for our own dinner.

It was a hectic day for everyone.  The kids fell asleep on the bed, forcing Eddy and Mai-lon to sleep on the sofa sleeper mattress on the floor.  The young adults went back to the Furama hotel.