Singapore - Wheels on the Go

December 12, 2025 – Singapore – Part I – An Ode to Pain du Chocolat – best in the world!

December 12, 2025December 19, 2025Lmnei

In 1980, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, where I cannot eat food that contain flours that have gluten in them such as wheat, rye, barley and some types of oats. While it has been an interesting journey for me and my family being diagnosed in my teens, and mostly a positive experience, the one thing that most people with Celiac Disease crave, especially diagnosed later in life is food that tasted like they used to eat. There are things that I do not remember what they tasted like 45 years ago, however one that has eluded me and I do remember are pastries – specifically croissants and pain du chocolat.

I have had the luxury to travel a lot in my lifetime and visit some pretty high end gluten free bakeries, especially in the last few years which have excellent products. Some were in Rome, Italy; various locations in Spain; Paris, France; various cities in Canada such as Montreal,t Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, where I live; Auckland, New Zealand; and more recently a brand new bakery in Manley, near Sydney, Australia. They all have wonderful products however each time I tried them something was missing – it was either an aftertaste or a gummy feeling that the flour used which lacks gluten, leaves in your mouth.

Until the morning of December 8th, 2025 when I had the extreme excitement of biting into a Gluten Free Pain du Chocolat at the Westin Hotel in Singapore for breakfast. It was exquisite, flaky and I thought I was eating a gluten item by mistake as there was no aftertaste. However the staff assured me that there was no mistake – they were gluten free! I was in heaven – well quite literally too as we were on the 35th floor of the building!

Here is my Ode to the Gluten Free Pain du Chocolat! I did have some help writing this…

O warm-hearted rectangle,
buttery vault of morning light,
you carry within your golden walls
a secret line of midnight—
two dark bars of chocolate,
quiet and intense
as a whispered confession.

Your layers sigh beneath my touch,
delicate as pages
from a well-loved book.
Each bite is a soft collision
of crisp border and molten dusk,
a duet of sweetness and smoke.

You are the thrill
the croissant only hints at—
a rebellion wrapped in pastry,
a promise that even dawn
can taste like indulgence.

Oh my gluten free Pain au chocolat,
you are the mischief of mornings,
the elegance of afternoons,
the small, perfect triumph
of joy to me.

My gluten free plate of pastries at Westin Hotel Singapore – Pain du Chocolat, Croissant and little Almond Muffin

December 11, 2025 – Singapore – Gardens by the Bay and MORE RAIN!

December 11, 2025December 19, 2025Lmnei

After a wonderful breakfast and now that we are experts at the subway in Singapore, we decided today to explore Gardens in the Bay.

We first took the elevator down to the underground passage and then over to the subway to get to the Gardens by the Bay station. Gardens by the Bay is another “complex” in Singapore that is mainly directed to tourists. It has several areas that can be explored of which we are going to do a couple of them. Again, torrential rains are expected later this afternoon, so we are out fairly early to try and get some sightseeing done.

Here is a map above of the Gardens by the Bay area which shows it sort of a pie shaped area in downtown Singapore. We walked from the Gardens by the Bay MRT station along the waterfront until we got to the Cloud Forest which is a HUGE dome – sort of like a thin egg – on its side. Next to it is a similar sized dome, the Flower Dome. We entered the Cloud Forest first and while I cannot remember how high the structure is, however, it is VERY high – more than 10 stories I would estimate. The entrance with the dinosaurs that were slightly moving like very tall giraffes, were an incredible sight to see! This currently is a Jurassic Park Exhibit and you will see why very shortly…

We could hear some roaring when we walked in, and when we walked up the left side of the Cloud Dome and around the corner what did we run into? This Jurassic Park Dinosaur!

Next, we walked across a bridge and to an elevator to go up into the Cloud Forest. Now, I had seen some structural elements to the building as we approached the building, however I did not realize they were walkways until we got UP to the top and realized exactly how high up we were! They again were metal and my walker was making all kinds of noises and I was NOT feeling well with the height and the walkway jutting out into the Cloud Dome! It was also VERY steamy inside which probably added to the effects I was feeling! There were some exquisite flower displays up top, which I have taken some pictures of:

Then we came to a pond of Italian glass flowers and the Carnivorous Plant display!

Most people at this time made their way down the Cloud Forest by escalator, however I was banned from them so we had to take the elevator down floor by floor to see the different displays on each floor. Some had more walkways out into the dome and one had a walkway to view the waterfall that was at the entrance of the Cloud Forest we saw – but now we were at the top of it! Again, a titillating experience looking down to take that picture! On one of the lobbies of the floors there were examples of some stalactites from caves and then another cute display where they are incubating dinosaur eggs and counting down until they are hatched. It was all animatronics however the kids sure liked it!

Back on the ground now, we exited the gift shop and got directions to our next attraction which was the Tour of Gardens by the Bay by open air bus. On our way there though I spotted a Shake Shack which is a popular American Chain Restaurant and we decided it was time to have something to cool down. Andrew had some custard ice cream while I had a chocolate shake. We then made our way to the Tour location where we got onto the little bus and we were driven around the different areas of the Gardens by the Bay. We took this tour as I knew I was not going to have the stamina in this heat to visit all the areas and I wanted to experience the full Gardens in the Bay display. In the picture I posted at the beginning of this blog, it was basically all the yellow numbered places around the Supertree Grove on the map at the top.

After that, we visited the Flower Dome which was MUCH less intensive than the Cloud Forest! It contained flower displays from around the world. It sure had an impact on all senses too! Especially the wonderful smells that flowers admit! I was so taken back by the number of different displays from countries (Canada was missing) from around the world that were mostly tropical – and all the different types of fuchsias in vast quantity on display! The lilies were also very beautiful too!

As it is also Christmas time, they had multiple train displays too which were fun to see! Andrew was in his element here! It also reminded me of my grandfather’s train display in his basement – however these were bigger trains and there were about 8 different displays – very intricate! When walking around the displays the buildings did not look like they were from Singapore though and I was right – the one building display was on loan from North Carolina!

Unfortunately, today the Observation Deck, which we had tickets to in the Supertree Grove was closed. They instead gave us tickets to the walkway between the towers which is pictured below. At this point in time, after experiencing the Cloud Forest and it was about to rain, we passed on going up to the walkway between the Supertree Grove structures and decided to just keep walking along to the MRT station at Bayfront which is on the Southern side or bottom of the map for the Gardens in the Bay. The pictures below do not capture the sky correctly – it was getting quite grey above us! Above the Bayfront Station there is a GIANT hotel complex which I took some pictures of – some of the architecture in Singapore does remind me of Dubai – they really do like to compete and outdo each other!

Back at the hotel now, we had a very nice dinner in the Westin Lounge again – Andrew partaking in the buffet provided and the chef cooking me a chicken sandwich again. The service in this lounge was impeccable! I have visited a lot of lounges in hotels around the world however this one takes the cake so far – the Orchid Hotel in Bangkok comes a close second, however this one is much better overall!

Tomorrow we are going to change hotels to the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport for two reasons – we are flying out of Changi airport on our way to Okinawa, Japan on our way home, and I wanted to spend some time at this airport as it is rated number 1 in the world by Skytrax Magazine, which does all the Travel Rankings for hotels and airlines each year. The Vancouver Airport is the number 1 airport in North America for many years running and Changi has a similar track record of years running, but best in the world! Lets see what they have to offer!

December 10, 2025 – Singapore – Sentosa Island Aquarium and RAIN!

December 10, 2025December 16, 2025Lmnei

Well, after a long day like yesterday, we did sleep in today however made it downstairs in time for breakfast! Again, I patronized the Gluten Free cart and found MORE GF croissants and GF pain du chocolat on offer plus some little muffins. We did not have breakfast yesterday due to the early start and I was so happy to have these pastries again this morning! They are a delight to eat! I have had the privilege to eat these types of pastries in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Spain and France where they have the specialty bakeries to make such lovely delicacies, along with Canada, especially in Montreal where there is a fabulous gluten free bakery, however in all those travels I have NEVER had gluten free pastries these flaky and soft in my life! Also the croissant peels just like a gluten croissant does and flakes everywhere!

Due to this excitement, I decided that feedback, whether good or positive is due and this was very POSITIVE feedback! I sent a note through the Marriott messaging system to the hotel asking if they made these pastries in house or if a bakery provided them. I was aware of a good gluten free bakery in Singapore, however when I had looked it up, it was now permanently closed. Oh my, what a storm positive feedback caused! Very soon I had a response and a Food and Beverage representative AND the Chef de Pastrie were at our table in the restaurant where we were having breakfast! I tried not to gush too much however I did explain how long I have had Celiac Disease and how WONDERFUL these pastries are! They told me that they had brought a chef from Australia to teach them how to bake them (which makes sense) and part of the reason they are so wonderful is the water in Singapore is so good! Whatever the reason I agree!

We then retired to our room, primarily for me to digest my belly of pastries and omelette along with to plan what we were going to do for the afternoon. The weather forecast was not that positive, however there was a window of opportunity to go out without getting soaked, we hoped! We decided to go to Sentosa, which is basically a man made island that has some hotels, a beach and lots of attractions – such as Universal Studios, the Aquarium, a Skyride, lots of restaurants and a shopping mall. We went there for the Aquarium (Oceanarium) as it was a new aquarium and highly recommended. The previous Aquarium on Sentosa called S.E.A was closed last year and this new Oceanarium was opened instead. It is a HUGE complex, half of it we found out was underground!

First, we stopped by the Westin Lounge to get some help with using the subway / transit system. The system in Singapore is VERY complex and there are stations everywhere so I wanted to ensure that what Google Maps was telling me (Google Maps is known to lead one astray at times) was in fact accurate after our experience in Sydney! Sure enough, Google Maps was correct – for the time of day we needed to take 2 trains, 2 stops each and then switch to the Sentosa Monorail to get to Sentosa Island. Off we went! First we walked to the Downtown Line station, which was interesting as in Singapore, you can tell it can rain a lot as there are these gathering areas under cover where people congregate – there was one between the 2 buildings that made up the Asia Plaza 1 (where the hotel was located above an office tower) and Asia Plaza 2 which was an office tower. We soon arrived at the subway system and I was AMAZED how clean it was and also how easy it was to use! The turnstiles you just tap your credit card and then open (or use a card like the Compass Card in Vancouver), the elevators all worked seamlessly and did not stink, and then instead of standing on a platform, the area where the train arrives is actually enclosed and the doors open up at the same time the train doors open and you pass through onto the train! Seamless experience! Here are some pictures:

We got to the Oceanarium and paid to enter and what an EXCELLENT experience it was! I took some videos of the jelly fish exhibit as I found them just to be fascinating – they are way cooler than the plain jelly fish that we see near Vancouver!

Here is a video of the Pacific Sea Nettle – the “Fried Egg” one did not work out 🙁

Next we have the Purple Striped Sea Nettle (venomous), White Spotted Sea Jelly, and then a whole tank of small sea jellies! I did not realize that the plain jane sea jellies were such an important part of the ecosystem and keeping it in check – they eat plankton and small fish where they are eaten by the sea turtles which are very prevalent in this part of the world.

Here are their cool videos! The tank of sea jellies was HUGE – about 20 feet tall and wide!

Striped Sea Nettle – those streaming tails were really purple!

White Spotted Sea Jelly

The HUGE tank of Sea Jellies!

Next we move onto the Ancient Waters area – boy some of these creatures were UGLY! This was mainly a static display –

Now, we are in the aquarium display with LOTS of different fishes and creatures! Here are some pictures of some things that I have not seen before and some miniature ones that are VERY LARGE were we live!

Next we were transported into marshlands which were pretty interesting! There were three displays – two if which we looked at and the third, which I did not take a picture of, was a touch and feel display with marine staff that kids lined up for. Let’s say this area was VERY popular and noisy!

Next, we took another trusty cool elevator down another level (we are now 2 stories below the ground) to see the big fish display and what a display it was! It even included some human fish!

After going through the walk through passage in the tank, we saw some displays about sharks and how their skin has a unique texture that barnacles and algae cannot attach to making it basically bacteria resistant! This type of surface is being research for various purposes in hospitals and other public places. Also, the structure of shark skin has lead to the development of paint that reduced surface resistance thus improving the efficiency of transportation and a reduction of fuel consumption.

Next we entered the Coral Gardens. Did you know that coral supports 25% of the marine species in the world? Here are some pictures of the various coral displays with their fish.

Below are Hammer (with a few Brains) and Torch coral videos –

Red Hammer Coral with some Purple/Blue Brain coral

Torch Coral swaying in the current

Next we entered the Reef Animal Display – there were some different shrimps on display however they were moving FAST and my pictures in the dark did not work out very well! I did capture the following ones though!

They Sea Horses were so cut I just had to take a video of them scooting around!

Then we ran into the Aquarist area – now I thought it was talking about those who are Aquarius Zodiac sign, but no, they meant Marine Biologists! These are the people who are keeping these special populations of creatures displayed in the Oceanarium alive and going! They provide all the residents with a healthy diet, enrichment programs, and healthcare so that all the populations can flourish (this I got from a sign).

After the Aquarist area, we were surprised to enter an area with yet another HUGE tank of fish swimming around! Look at how big it is compared to the levels that people can stand! We took some pictures and then moved on as I was not able to get any closer than the top level. Now looking at it – I think the window you can see on the lower right of the first picture is where I took my shark photos earlier…

Then there was an area on Il Nino and Il Nina and their effect on the oceans and climate along with a display about garbage in the sea and the “garbage patches” which there are 4 – Great Pacific, Indian Ocean, Atlantic and Southern Pacific. Here is the picture of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch! Not a good thing to think about in the middle of the ocean all this trash has gathered!

Now we are into more aquariums with interesting fish from Asia which I have captured below –

Here is the ceiling tall fish tank in action!

Then we came to the eels – so creepy! There were two big eels in this display and they were roaming in and around the display through the holes like it was playtime! Why they were together in the same area I have no idea – the yellow one went back in as you can see below…

And then popped out up top and why the eel did not eat that fish that kept swimming into his mouth is beyond me!

Then we walked through the giant Aquarium with the sharks yet again (different passage way this time) where there was a shipwreck located and saw some more cool rays! This one has an angry face!

I thought we were done with the deep now, but not true! Next was a display of the Triton Submersible which is the first vessel to reach the deepest point on all 5 oceans. It is certified to dive to 3.350 metres! Along with it, in a very dark display, there were pictures of some fish that the submersible took pictures of – one of which is pictured below. Lastly, in the final hall, another giant submersible – the actual bones that you can walk through of a blue whale!

The last exhibit was a “modern” take on a fish bowl – a suspended living room filled with water and fish swimming around! After seeing that as we departed, our visit to the Oceanarium was over! What an experience! I have included only about 1/4 of the videos and pictures that I took – consider this post a highlight! We then took the elevator 2 stories up to the gift shop – all tourist places end at the gift shop and there we saw the torrential rain coming down! Not a surprise, however yikes! It was REALLY raining hard and bouncing off the ground by 6 inches!

We then aborted my planned next activity – to take the Skyride from Sentosa to the mountain top in Singapore and then the subway back to the hotel. Taking the Skyride would not be worth the money as it was completely socked in and pouring and not expected to let up in the next hour. Instead, the lady at the gift shop told me how to get back to the Sentosa Monorail Station under cover so that we could just take the subway to the hotel instead and skip the Skyride!

We arrived back at the subway station that is next to the hotel – we did not know we could walk underground to the hotel – so we went up to the street and then risked the rain crossing over to the hotel and at that point saw the elevator up from the concourse below! Noted for tomorrow! We spent another night in the Westin Lounge and Andrew had appetizers and some beer while I was presented with a lovely gluten free chicken sandwich! Who needs dinner after that?

Tomorrow our plan is to visit the Bay by the Gardens which is another tourist area in Singapore that is quite popular to visit! See you for some live action tomorrow!

December 9, 2025 – Singapore – LONG Daytrip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

December 9, 2025December 14, 2025Lmnei

Well, this day started off with a bang! Or maybe a loud alarm clock! Oh, no, that would be my cell phone yet again ringing at 3 am with someone trying to get a hold of me! Needless to say Andrew and I were both away for the 4 am alarm to get up and moving to be downstairs in the lobby of the hotel for our 5 am pickup for our day trip to Kuala Lumpur.

I had found this tour on Viator, one of the travel websites and it was highly recommended for people who are visiting Singapore who also want to see the sights around Malaysia including Kuala Lumpur and the Petronas Twin Towers which are there – the twin towers are the tallest in the world. For over 6 months I had corresponded with the day trip organizer who was very proficient and understood my extra needs in the fact that I was traveling with a walker and could not climb a lot of steps. He also helped me get our tickets to the Petronas Twin Towers when I was having some issues as people who use wheelchairs and walkers have to book extra “space” in the elevator (no idea why)!

So Max picked us up at 5 am – it was already about 30 degrees out including humidity so we knew it was going to be a hot day. I was also aware due to the high Muslim population in Singapore and Malaysia, that I needed to cover my shoulders and knees and bring along my sweater (only suitable long sleeved item I had to put on) and my head scarf as we would be going to a mosque too. Max was to drive us over the Malaysian border and then deliver us to our next driver, Allan, who would be a our driver for the rest of the trip, all the way back to our hotel. There is some Singapore “rule” that Malaysian drivers cannot pick up people in Singapore to take back to Malaysia, so thus the driver change. It was 5 am and as soon as I got into the car for the 45 minute drive to the border, I was sleepy! Max though wanted to lecture us on everything Singapore – from government and anti-corruption to how much people are paid and the list goes on. Needless to say, we were in these lovely business class recliner seats in his high end Toyota SUV and I thought it would be rude to fall asleep so I tried my best to stay awake! This is obviously something he does on a routine basis as he had us flying through the exit from Singapore and then into Malaysia in no time and soon we met up with Allan our driver in a less “fitted out” SUV but comfortable just the same!

First it was pitch black out when we were doing this and second, you cannot take any pictures when crossing the border! Singapore is separated from Malaysia by a bridge. The Immigration and Customs all are in buildings that we seemed to be underground going through until we went over the bridge and then back into some buildings, still in the car, to enter Malaysia in a place called Johor, which is also a port city.

Needless to say, once we were in the SUV with Allan, sleep did take over for me for two reasons – one I was tired and two he was driving rather fast – it was like being on the autobahn again! At one point we were being passed while he was doing 140 km/h. Mostly motorcycles and fast cars though. Watching the signs on the highway were interesting – they had LOTS of full service stops for gas and dining/fast food which was great and really promoted getting rest when driving. The other funny signs, which I never accomplished getting a picture of were the picture of a motorcycle and an umbrella – which meant that an overpass was coming up so if it started raining hard, there was refuge really soon. A lot of the motorcycle drivers drove along the shoulder of the road if they were not on a high powered motorcycle that could keep up with or go faster than the cars.

After a couple of hours we arrived a Batu Caves, which is where we also met our tour guide for the day named Mr. Sandran Vellesamy who was Malaysian and is a tour guide by profession. Allan dropped us off and left us in the care of Sandran to tour the caves. The Batu Caves name is derived from the word batu from Malay meaning “rock”. Formed over 400 million years ago, the Batu Caves consist of 20 recognized caves including four large cave systems with multiple inter-connected chambers. The complex is a mogote with a series of limestone caves which have speleothems were formed by the action of water falling on the surface percolating through the surface and interacting with the sub-surface, resulting in the dissolution of limestone rocks, resulting in the formation of stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites jutting from the ceiling and stalagmites rising from the floor form intricate formations of cave curtains, flowstones, cave pearls, and scallops.

The caves were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people. In the middle 1800’s, Chinese settlers began excavating bat excrement from the caves, to use as fertilizer. In 1878, the caves were visited by American naturalist William Hornaday and K. Thamboosamy, an Indian Tamil trader, promoted the cave complex as a site of Hindu worship. So, a Hindu temple dedicated to lord Murugan was completed in 1891 with the annual Thaipusam celebrations commencing in 1892. Further development of religious sites has happened ever since in the region. Housing development around the region began in the late 20th century and there are concerns now that the area is becoming over-developed.

As the caves have a HUGE staircase to get up into them and then another one once in there, Andrew and Sandran proceeded to visit the caves while I walked around taking pictures – here is what we both saw –

Now we departed, as Batu Caves are actually about 14 km north of Kuala Lumpur, into Kuala Lumpur city centre for the day. The first place we stopped was their town centre plaza where the National Cricket Oval or Pitch is located. Now the whole area was boarded up and I could not get in due to stairs, however someone I know was able to slide between the boards that were put up (with the permission of our tour guide) and take some pictures for us! While I was on the outside I took the following pictures – to note is the Malaysian Flag on the flagpole for those Engineers out there – this flag does NOT twist – the flag pole was engineered so that the flag goes around a loop or circle at the top and rotates with the wind so that it does not get tangled! Now that is a good use of engineering skills!

A couple of other things about the pictures below – the river looks low however when it rains in really rains and twice a year we were told, primarily when the king tides are also happening, the river backs up to the mountains. When this happens, all the underground tunnels in Kuala Lumpur are actually closed to traffic and are flooded too so the water has somewhere to go! They were designed that way. We actually traveled through one of the tunnels that is flooded about 2-4 times a year. It takes them about 3-5 days after the water recedes to clean the tunnel of debris and mud to allow cars back into it. The other interesting thing we learned was that the post office, which is across from the Mile Zero marker, was how all postage in the “olden” days was calculated. That was the Zero in the number of miles or kilometers that the postal mail had to travel and how it was thus charged.

These are Andrew’s pictures from when he snuck into the park. He was not the only one doing it – a whole tour group went in before him! It was just up stairs as I mentioned and then through a very narrow passageway that I decided not to attempt early in the day!

After visiting the National Square we got back into the van and drove to the Central Market where we are going to have lunch and someone 🙂 might do some shopping! The plan was to take us to a Malay restaurant, however when we got there it was closed for a school group to eat there (school holidays are next week), not a problem though as I had noticed a Thai restaurant as we walked to the Malay restaurant so our tour guide took us there and made sure that they understood my Celiac Restaurant cards (which I had in Thai and Malay) so that I could order safe food and then left us there to eat (and shop).

Now onto the Petronas Twin Towers where we have a 2 pm ticket to go up and visit both the bridge between them and then up to the observation floor! This again is NOT something for my mother who does not like heights! Even for me it was starting to push the limits getting near some of the windows up top!

The Petronas Twin Towers are iconic 88-story skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, known for their postmodern Islamic design and the double-decker Skybridge connecting them, offering stunning city views from the Observation Deck on the 86th floor. Once the world’s tallest buildings (1998-2004), they house the Petronas oil company and other global businesses, serving as a major landmark and tourist attraction. Their height are 451.9 meters (1,483 ft), designed by César Pelli, the two-story bridge (worlds highest) links the towers at the 41st and 42nd floors (engineering note: only 1/2 inch off when they went to connect the buildings together) and the observation deck is located on the 86th floor, providing panoramic city views. Another interesting fact is that the Skybridge between the two buildings is not attached to the main structure, but instead is designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking due to strong winds!

The site planning for the Twin Towers began in January 1992, where excavators began digging down 30 metres below the surface of the site in March 1993. The work required moving over 500 truckloads of earth every night. Following that was the single, largest, and longest concrete pour ever in Malaysian history; approx. 13,200 cubic metres of concrete was continuously poured per tower through a period of 54 hours. This record-breaking slab with 104 piles of concrete layers form the very foundation for the twin towers we see today.

From this floor rose a 21 metre high retaining wall, with a perimeter length of over one kilometre. This concrete shell and the basement area it encloses required two years and up to 40 workers on site all day and night. The construction of the superstructure commenced in April 1994 after passing multiple rigorous tests and simulations of wind and structural loads on the design. Finally in June 1996, the Petronas Twin Towers was completed with its encasing in steel and glass.

Time to go up to see them! First, we were dropped off at the mall connected to the Petronas Twin Towers – which we walked into and saw down a level and all the Christmas displays. Next we were taken outside (we were running early) and the HUGE Christmas tree and what was next to it? A fake ice rink made out of wax sheets so people could skate! Now, to go to the Twin Towers – we got the ticket for me (which was reserved as I had to show up with my walker so they could see that I needed “space”) and as we already had a ticket for Andrew we were ready to go! Unfortunately there was a school group ahead of us which made things a little slow and noisy! We watched a movie (below) and then went into the elevator to proceed to the SkyBridge to check out the view – which was fabulous!

Here is the movie we got to see while waiting for the elevator to take us up to the SkyBridge –

Note: Sound is not very good!

And now we go higher! Up to the top!

At the Petronas Towers we said goodbye to our tour guide, Sandran, and Allan, our driver then drove us to the Putra Mosque, which was the last sight on our list to see prior to returning to Singapore. I was looking forward to this stop due to my association with Maha and the things that I have learned regarding the Muslim religion. Due to that I was also prepared in what I needed to wear! The mosque was HUGE and beautiful! For those women visiting the mosque who were not dressed appropriately then gave out these red jackets with hoods so that the arms and hair are covered when you go into the main building. That is why you see people wearing red things in the pictures below. I passed muster with my sweater and pashima wrap. As in the Muslim religion, you do have to take your shoes off prior to going into the mosque, where other mosques I have been to it is right in front of the door – here it was at the entrance to the facility so we had to walk in bare feet all the way across the terrace to get to the main part of the mosque – I was REALLY GLAD it was not that sunny out! Inside the mosque was amazing and we had unexpectedly shown up at the time for the evening call to prayer, so the prayer was being sung by some members of the male devotees. I find listening, while I do not understand what they are saying, to be absolutely amazing and calming. We were only supposed to be in the mosque for 15 minutes but I think we were there a bit longer than that as one of the volunteers came up and spoke to us and wanted to know where we were from. We also were the only Caucasian people in the mosque! He was very nice and I explained that I was aware that it was the call to prayer going on and how much I enjoyed listening to it. I actually recorded some of it for Maha so she could hear it and then we left to meet Allan for our drive back to Singapore.

Well, needless to say, this was a VERY long day! We got back to the Westin Hotel at about 9pm – so we were on this trip for a total of 16 hours! Time flew by and it was lots of fun however we are both now exhausted!

Tomorrow I think AGAIN we will be sleeping in 🙂 See you later alligators!

December 8, 2025 – Singapore – Life on the 44th floor of the Westin Hotel!

December 8, 2025December 12, 2025Lmnei

Both and Andrew and I were exhausted after our day of travel yesterday. I was so looking forward to our trip on Singapore Airlines in Business Class as they are the number 1 airline in the world, however it was both a frustrating and tiring experience – not their fault due to the number of kids on board in business class, but it was disruptive. Also the turbulence that we experienced throughout the flight, where the seats were not as comfortable as we have experience on other airlines, added to the overall tiredness we are feeling. That said, the flight attendants on Singapore Airlines are first class in terms of service and hospitality and they do work hard! There were 24 flight attendants on the Airbus 380 flight which is the standard requirement for that type of plane – so it is not that Singapore puts extra people on to enable their world class service, it is they are so very efficient and seamless at their delivery – always with a smile on their face!

We did sleep in as long as we could this morning, however breakfast downstairs was calling so we made the “commute” from our 44th floor room down to the restaurant on the 32nd floor to the Westin Hotel restaurant named Seasonal Tastes. As we stay at Marriott enough, our breakfast is included and what a breakfast it was! The buffet was ENDLESS! There was a pastry area with again, ice cream, cereals, about 7 different juices, fruit, cold cuts, Japanese, Malaysian, Hindi, Egg station and of course my favourite one – the Gluten Free table! I took some pictures below to show you just how extensive it was!

Once we finished our WONDERFUL breakfast, which I will write about more a little later in terms of the gluten free selections, we decided to check out the rest of the hotel which was shrouded in darkness when we arrived last night! Granted, today it is cloudy, however it is fairly bright out!

Now let’s check out our room which we were upgraded to! It is a corner suite and it is every sweet! 🙂

Today was a day of resting, relaxing and resting some more! I have NO IDEA where the day went! I did some blogging from the past few days of travel and then we went to bed early as tomorrow we need to be downstairs by 5 am for our planned Day Trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! I am really looking forward to this exciting trip, including the sites and seeing the Petronas Twin Towers which are the tallest twin towers in the world!

December 7, 2025 – Travel Day – Sydney to Singapore – a Country and a City!

December 7, 2025December 8, 2025Lmnei

Today is an exciting day! First, the Whitecaps are playing Miami in the MLS playoff which means an EARLY start for us as the game is beginning at 6 am here in Sydney, Australia! I thought I might be able to push the snooze button and let Andrew watch the game on his phone but technology requires my laptop so I got it going and VPN’d back to Canada to load the Telus Broadcast on TSN and we were able to watch it just fine! I think some snoozing took place on my part in between some exclamations from the other side of the bed about how the Whitecaps were playing or not passing the ball…

The MORE exciting thing for me, is we get to fly on an Airbus 380 which was my dream that came to reality when we had to leave New Zealand in a hurry in 2020 during COVID, however I did not get to fully appreciate the experience due to the rushed way we had to purchase the tickets and get to the airport to get onto the plane. Also from Christchurch to Sydney was a short flight. This time, I CHOSE to fly Singapore Airlines, which is always the top rated Airline in the world, to Changi Airport, the number 1 airport in the world – to see a new country which many people have told me is a great one to visit! Our/my original plans were to fly to Singapore today and then fly home to Vancouver on Thursday, December 11th, on Air Canada’s new SIN-YVR flight, on a Dreamliner, which is Air Canada’s now longest flight that they do. However plans change! Now we return to Vancouver after our side trip to Okinawa and we will be flying home to Vancouver through Tokyo, which we have done previously.

First though, breakfast! Let’s see what this Moxy offers us! In Europe, the buffets are pretty well all the same – cheese, meat, eggs, danish and GF bread. Here there is the addition of fruit, a pancake machine (did not work properly – only know as we sat next to it – not that I was trying it out), and the chef would cook you an omelette if you wanted along with I was told “take care of my GF needs”. So I ordered a vegetable omelette with no peppers (forgot my distaste of mushrooms) and what did I get? A mushroom with a few greens and cheese thrown in! After I unloaded all the mushrooms as there was not much room in my stomach for all of them, I had the remains of the omelette. They pointed out some GF banana bread that the chef had made, however it did not taste very good – it was very hard and dry so I passed on additional slices. The omelette came with a peanut butter cookie though which I have packed up for a future dining emergency! My purse that I got in Fiji is really coming in handy for my “emergency” dining stash when traveling!

We then headed back up to the hotel room taking pictures along the way. We spent some time optimizing the luggage as to what we needed on the plane and what we wanted to have checked along with phoning my parents and sister and then we took the shuttle to the Sydney Airport.

I had some VERY high expectations of Singapore Airlines. Some they exceeded and in other areas, I was disappointed. They check-in went pretty well however I did realize we had a lack of communication with regards to my walker. They yet again wanted it in the hold of the plane and as this is a HUGE plane, I wanted it in a closet in the passenger area of the plane. I realized that they were serious about putting it into the hold when they brought me a plastic bag to put it into when I got to the door of the plane (which funny enough in North America airlines charge for these bags). Thy kept my boarding pass as they said I needed wheelchair assistance through immigration, customs and to the lounge, so we sat down and WAITED. And WAITED. After about 30 minutes and the first person who was in line for transport had been taken already, I asked how much longer and they said they are not allowed to take people to the gate until 3 hours until the flight. I pointed out that it WAS 3 hours prior to the flight AND that we were going to the lounge instead. Then they said 10 minutes which stretched into 30 and finally a supervisor came and got me and took us through security, immigration, customs and up to the lounge. The other person who was also waiting for an escort, was taken at the same time, as he was also going to the lounge.

The lounge was really nice – we looked down on the 380 that was going to take us to Singapore and we had some snacks – including 2 GF bars that Andrew found for me! I also saw lots of foreign air carriers arrive (we saw the tail of Air Canada leaving when we were driven to the airport). As we are now leaving Australia, I decided it was time to go SHOPPING. So I did! I got some Aussie things for people (not going to say what they are as that is a SECRET) and made it back to the lounge in time to leave with the other gentleman being escorted to the flight.

At this point in time, I was pretty confused. I could see the jet way from where we sat in the lounge and I knew that we were going to be on the top floor of the 380 but the jet way did not seem that steep! I remember coming off the Emirates plane in Sydney when we landed from Christchurch in 2020, where I was taken by wheelchair as our transit time was in negative minutes to catch the Qantas flight to Japan, where I felt like I was going to fall out of the wheelchair as the ramp was so steep getting off the upper deck of that 380. This jet way seemed pretty flat to me and surprise – it was! The people who are flying Economy and Premium Economy at this jet way (or stand as they call it in Aussie and British lands) have to walk DOWN a ramp to get onto the plane! How different!

Now onto the plane I walked and they put my walker in the plastic bag and took it to the belly of the plane – there is a lack of “cabinets” or “wardrobes” on this plane! We were in 96 D and F – right at the BACK of the plane. Some really smart bunny in the Medical Department must have thought it was a good thing to put me SO FAR back on the plane instead of near the door where I normally sit! Very strange! And of course, based on our luck, it was the revenge of the screaming kids behind us!

Yes, this is the 1st weekend of the start of summer holidays down under and the plane was PACKED. The number of kids in Business Class was unreal (which I saw when I had to use the washroom and needed to walk forward) however most of them were behaved except the 3 year old behind us who did not understand why he had to be seat belted into his seat when the plane was taxing and taking off instead of his mother’s seat! BOTH Andrew and I agreed that the fact that noise reducing headphones are provided to Business Class passengers is wonderful! While I could still hear the screams and outbursts, they were MUCH muted!

It is also interesting sitting in the tail section of this giant marshmallow of a plane! Kind of freaky when you have been on about 5 flights in the last 4 weeks on 737 planes which take off rapidly and this one lumbers along to take off and the tail end is the last to get off the ground. Very different sensation – I do not often fly in the tails of airplanes!

The seats in theory were wonderful! Mine had a small issue going back into position, which required me to stand up and the flight attendant to fix, however considering I spent most of the flight reclined, it only had to be fixed twice – once for take off (I had reclined while everyone boarded the plane and that is when we figured out it was broken) and then when we came in for landing. Those flight attendants sure know how to manipulate the seats and to hammer them back into position! It was a completely lie flat seat, however there was not a lot of padding, like other air carriers. There was a duvet, mattress cover and blanket however I am not sure how well I would have done on an overnight flight. We had minor turbulence for about 75% of the flight (which is unusual) and light turbulence where the flight attendants had to sit down for about 45 minutes, along with the ascent took 45 minutes with light turbulence so the service did not start on time, however they also provide these large pillows at your seat and that helped me quite a bit from a positioning standpoint. It also helped that Andrew’s pillow somehow jumped onto my seat too! There is a divider that would have made us each have our own pod, however they put it down as Andrew and I were traveling together.

From a funny standpoint – I have ALWAYS seen on an air carrier the NO SMOKING and SEAT BELTS signs – on this plane it was a NO CELL PHONES and SEAT BELTS sign! I thought this was strange – as long as your phone was in airplane mode you could use it – so why was it lit up? No idea!

Dinner was good – I had a quinoa/mango salad which was delicious once I took the unidentified meat off the top! The chicken with broccoli and rice was good too (forgot to take a picture) and the lemon bar and dried fruit plate was a very nice touch! I paired this with as always and vintage Coke Zero! The little GF buns were hot and so cute! I then watched 3 movies – one that I had not heard of before but I found really interesting! It was called Audrey’s Children – which was about a doctor at a Philadelphia Hospital in the 60/70’s who pioneered cancer chemotherapy for children – that was what the write up on the screen indicated. However in watching it she was VERY ground breaking and actually started the Ronald McDonald Houses so that kids parents and families do not have to be burdened with the cost of staying with their child when they are at a hospital. While I do not like to give away endings – I was really impressed with this movie and surprised I had not heard of it or had been advertised more widely. Then I watched a Star is Born (sad) and then Top Gun – Mavrick movie to keep me awake as we were getting close to midnight Sydney time when we were landing!

Arrival in Singapore was awesome – the flight attendants were very respectful and came immediately to get me when the man showed up with a wheelchair and told me where my walker would be found – they were right! There it was in it’s plastic bag on the jet way half way down. We put my backpacks on it and we went through immigration (all electronic) and picked up our bags. At this point in time I was laughing and the gentleman who was pushing me thought I was really funny! Here were all the suitcases coming along on the carousel QUIETLY, not thumping down on top of each other from a chute, nicely arranged with the handles and tags out all in order! It was very robotic looking! I almost though perhaps a robot was putting them onto the carousel, however the escort said that no, baggage handlers do that. The escort went and got us a trolley while Andrew got our luggage and then we thanked the escort and found a taxi to take us to the Westin Hotel in Singapore.

Singapore, I knew was going to be a bright city. It was after 10 pm though so I was surprised it was still pretty bright as I had read that most of the “light attractions” shut down about 8 or 9 pm at night. We had a very pleasant drive in a taxi who had not one but 4 electronic devices in addition to the car’s dashboard, displayed! Two phones and 2 small tablets! The taxi was well outfitted with technology! I paid by credit card and it also worked on the first try! Amazing!

While Andrew was getting the suitcases out of the taxi I said I would go check into the hotel. I entered the lobby and was confused – I saw and elevator and two very tall escalators. I turned around and Andrew and the bellman said we needed to go to the 32nd floor to check in! I guess my jaw dropped. The bellman said – “the registration desk is the highest in Singapore”! Sure enough, we whizzed up to the 32nd floor in an express elevator and checked into the hotel! Beautiful hotel! It starts on the 32nd floor and goes up to the 47th floor. Our room is on the 44th floor! Wow! Pretty high! My mother would not like this!

Join us on our adventures tomorrow! We will be sleeping in though first…

Travel Alert! Our epic journey begins in 3 weeks!

September 18, 2025September 18, 2025Lmnei

History:

On February 24th, 2020 we embarked on an epic 3-month journey to Australia and New Zealand to celebrate retirement. The trip to Perth took 4 days. Perth was our first stop, and we traveled via Delhi and Bangkok to get there. We had to avoid China in our travels. In Perth, we had a great time visiting the “west coast” of Australia. Then, two weeks later, we flew to Auckland, New Zealand. We were there to catch a cruise on the Noordam (Holland America) back to Australia. This cruise would then take us home 4 weeks later to Vancouver. In Auckland is where our luck ran out, and our trip came to an abrupt halt due to COVID 19!

Being stuck in New Zealand was wonderful. We made the most of it by renting a cheap car and driving down to Christchurch on the South Island. It was there we were contacted by the Canadians Abroad department of the Canadian Government. They informed us on how to get home with about 3 hours notice to pack and get to the airport! Now, after 18 months of planning, we are going to re-do this trip in pieces!

The Trip:

Our next journey departs from Vancouver, by taking the train to Seattle to board the Noordam (deja vu!), to sail to Sydney, Australia. This is a 28 day sailing. It will take us to 3 Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, and 3 Fijian Islands. We will then visit Vanuatu and arrive in Sydney in early November. We will then visit Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, and Melbourne. Next, we will go to Sydney, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Brisbane. Finally, we’ll head back to Sydney to fly to Singapore on our way home.

We will spend time in Singapore, along with take a day trip to Kuala Lumpur. Our original plan was to take Air Canada’s longest flight home, which is a new flight on a 787 (14.5 hours). We will fly from Singapore to Naha, Japan (Okinawa). I need to finish the paperwork for the Estate of my friend Karen’s mother, Kiyoko. She was born in Okinawa and I have visited the island with Karen and her parents in 1998. We will fly home through Tokyo, which is the same that we did in March 2020, during COVID! I hope will have our luggage with us, instead of in Dubai where it ended up in 2020 by mistake!

Again, like last year my goals for this journey are 1. Yarn in suitcase 2. Take lots of pictures 3. Have fun and share both my Celiac/gluten free finds and accessible travels with you!

See you online in a couple of weeks!