Mother in Singsing!

In the end of February it was time for the first family visit from my side and in swooped my mother! It was her first time in Singapore, but considering she had been visiting in Tokyo last year, it was the second time in Asia. 

Throughout there were a lot of comparisons in between both cities, where we came to the conclusion that Tokyo is cooler, but Singapore is easier to live in. Despite the heat.. Mother Ingrid came from around -20 C in relatively dry air to about +35 C with humidity of more than 90% DP.

One of the pit stops was of course Raffles Hotel's Long Bar to have the obligatory Singapore Sling and throw peanuts on the floor

 We then took the elevator up 62 floors i. e. 282 m and walked the last two floors to the sky bar  1-Altitude, to get the best view over our new city

 

Dinner was hence grilled tiger shrimps, which you eat whole, head and all; the Swedish mother was slightly suspicious at first ;)

Another dinner was had at Chomp Chomp amongst others comprised by grilled slip lobsters (which you do not eat with their shells..)

 There were also a few long days at Orchard Road, shopping away like crazy..

 ..where one was finished off making green muscles in white wine and cream with a lot of garlic, of course eaten on the balcony, with a lot of wine!

Pictures had to be taken in for instance Chinatown.. 

 ..but when we hit Sago Lane and it started raining..

..we decided to go into the Buddha Tooth-Relic Temple..

 ..where a huge group of female monks were having some sort of meeting..

..in an absolutely breath taking surrounding..

 ..with marvelous figures..

 ..representing things like our star signs..

..and protective 'saints'

 Another must while visiting Singsing is of course the Botanic Gardens with absolutely huge trees.. 

 ..orchid photo spots..

..and often very, very hot weather (mother on the verge of giving up, with the mandatory sweat towel and water bottle)

Besides beautiful flowers, there are also quite amazing palm trees (mother however found and was carefully watching a big lizard)..

..while one of the cold climate orchids became our favorite..

 ..along with these cylinder like kind that almost looked like cheese doodles

 Then I found the smallest orchid I've ever seen!

The last orchid we looked at was on a tree branch and looked like a Swedish forest flower (vitsippa) 

We of course had to swing by Little India and especially Mustafa Center. Since I'd by then been housewifing (it's a new word btw) quite a bit, I know well to stay away from there in the morning (pensioner-race-time including old women apparently having the right to hit anyone junior with their sticks) and later afternoon (Indian house wife time with their Filipino maids completely take over and crowded beyond belief). Therefore, getting the requested Indian princess dress for the bonus grandchild at home, needed to be sorted out mid day = no walking outside (or it basically looks like you had a shower in your own sweat)

We hence continued to the food section, where we found things we hadn't seen before..

 ..things we had seen before ('which ketchup/chili sauce do I choose?')..

..but maybe not in quantities that we had seen before ('or do I take something from the other side??')

The evening was finished off at Greenwood Bistro and their traditional Oyster Night, when each oyster goes for S$1; it was the first time in about 30 years my mother had alive, raw oysters and she loved it

The marina needed to gets its part of the attention (this is mother and husband; wanted at least one pic proof we were at Marina Bay Sands, with the Singapore Flyer in the background; I'm so turning Asian..)

We came down from the sky bar Ku De Ta on the 53rd floor just in time to catch the light show below the casino..

..as we made our way towards The Sail and the other scrapers in the finance district..

..and ended up at Level 33 on floor 33, which is apparently the only microbrewery on that height  in the world

We also managed to squeeze in some Indian food at our favorite local Banana Leaf (I can't for the world tell you what we had, because I have absolutely no idea when we go there, but it's very good)..

.. where the food was really nice, but slightly spicy

 One of the final meals was had at Chinese Gardens, which is unfortunately located in Clarke Quay (it's not as bad on the tacky-ness-scale as Sentosa, but not far off), but is worth a visit for their food 

Tack fina mamma for ett jatteharligt besok och vi ser fram emot nasta! Pok/Ka