Back in Japan for a Couple Days

 Hello all from Narita Tobu Airport Hotel! 

Our flight back home on Thursday was cancelled and rescheduled for Saturday.  So here we are in an airport hotel with a ton of other people and various airline flight crew.  (Seems to be the go-to hotel for the airport)

But back to the beginning - 

• we saw the flight change - 
• then the time changed for the flight 3 times in a couple of hours.  
• When we checked in at Changi Airport in Singapore - they didn’t show any cancellation for that leg of the flight.  Weird right? 

By the time we got to the gate - they were calling our names to make sure we knew the flight had been cancelled and rescheduled- so nice of them 

Back to this amazing airport.  Again it’s just stunning.  It’s also luxurious- as in couches in the gate area, lounging areas with what could be pool chairs (poor description) plants.  It was no where near as ratty like some of the US airports.  I failed you all in not taking any pictures.  Sorry!

Once we landed in Japan, the American Airline staff were great.  We did receive hotel and food vouchers.  Easy peasy - no fight or discussion - just yes - let me get that taken care of for you.

So during all of this Shan and I were looking for other flights back to Kansas and Florida. Why?  We booked that segment separate from the flight to Japan.  Why?  Missy couldn’t get a flight from Florida at a reasonable hour to make it to Dallas in time for the afternoon flight to Japan.  So we just booked Florida/Kansas to Dallas on a separate ticket and spent the night in Dallas prior to Japan flight. 

So with the international part of the flight being rescheduled - we had to reschedule this separate flight.  So now Shan gets in at a reasonable hour in Kansas, while Missy arrives in Florida after midnight.  YUCK!

We are planning on visiting the Naritasan Shinsho-ji Temple today since it is nearby. 

 

Botanic Gardens

 Beware - there will be about 8 million photos posted of the 210 million photos we took!

Before that - just in case no one goes to the end of flowerama - we had a late lunch at Chatterbox - Asian inspired food.  

I had the Beef Hor Fun

Shan had the Mandrian Chicken Rice - which is a world famous hainanese dish.

For dinner - we went to one of the nearby “malls” to grab something sweet.  By the by - these ‘malls’ have Gucci, Tom Ford, Rolex, Burberry, with a ‘food court’ on the lower level.  Anyway - we saw these guys making and filling dumplings. 

Also Shannon played the ‘big sister’ card in the gift shop.  I saw some cutting boards - really nice wood and size - she sauntered up to me and said…”If you buy that I’m telling Tiffany on you”. Really funny moment!  😂

The Botanic Gardens are huge - over 100 acres.  We initially started in the very special Orchid Garden.  Which as it happens - is also where we finished our time.  That damn “Sweat” Gene got us good.  I hate it!  Especially when you see others in cute outfits - not sweating - or men in a sport coat - not sweating.  I curse you all!

Anywho there were tons of beautiful orchids - you will see our very honed photography skills - Sam - Shan’s friend who IS a professional photographer should find the humor in us calling ourselves professional photographers -

Here goes - 

This rooster was greeting everyone.  

On our way out we saw 2 of these - Monitor Lizards.  

This palm tree was huge - we couldn’t wrap both hands around the frond stalk. 

Look how tall these orchids are - at least 7-8 feet tall.  They are supported by rebar.

Busy Sunday and Monday

 Hello from Singapore.  Our first full day here.  We started with a great breakfast and then on to a Big Bus tour of the city.  We like these (except for the Rome one we did) because it gives you a good overview of the City - well Country.

Singapore is about 30 miles wide and 17 miles tall.  It is half the size of Rhode Island

For Florida Folks - It’s 31 miles from Palm Coast to Port Orange

For Louisiana Folks - It’s 32 miles from New Orleans to Slidell

For Kansas Folks - It’s 28 miles from Louisburg to Overland Park 

So it’s a small country. 

It is beautiful - very tropical given that it is 1degree from the equator. Therefore it is very hot.  Again - why oh why did we get the sweat gene????

We learned that there is a law that a tree or plant has to be planted every 6 meters.  It is clean, safe, and again beautiful.  

It was hard to get pictures on the bus tour but here are some. 

Below is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel -  

Hawker Market in Chinatown or Little India.  These are where there are many many food stalls.

This is the Marina Bay Sands hotel from our hotel room on the 28th floorl

Then on Monday - the reason for this stop - the airport.  We headed back to the airport to explore The Jewel.  Tons of shops, restaurants, and experiences. 5 Stories of stuff to see and do. There were many people there that weren’t flying anywhere - just came to shop and eat and enjoy the activities.  

We weren’t able to see the Butterfly garden as that is past security - oh - you say see it when you fly out?  Our flight is at 8 am - and I don’t think it is open at that hour.  

The waterfall- 

Shan and I braved the walkway that was 5 floors up.  Yes we are wimps in general and we crossed as fast as we could and Shan refused to look down.

There is a hedge maze.  It wasn’t hard to do considering the had “exit” signs everywhere in there!

There were motion activated flowers - they would disappear into tubes then come out when motion is there.  We were like - where did those come from??

Below is an area where you can walk on ropes and also jump around - mostly kids were doing this.

The amount of tall trees and palms and the plants and the flowers and the overall stunning beauty was insane!