Sadly, we have reached the end of our time in New Zealand which essentially marks the end of our
7 1/2-month sabbatical. Boo-hoo! Fortunately, there was a lovely send-off, Auckland style: The Lantern Festival, honoring Chinese New Year. It was held in Albert Park, directly across the street from where we were living on the University of Auckland campus. The park was decorated with dozens of huge lanterns, hanging from trees and also figures, animals and scenes of all kinds.
7 1/2-month sabbatical. Boo-hoo! Fortunately, there was a lovely send-off, Auckland style: The Lantern Festival, honoring Chinese New Year. It was held in Albert Park, directly across the street from where we were living on the University of Auckland campus. The park was decorated with dozens of huge lanterns, hanging from trees and also figures, animals and scenes of all kinds.
Pink dragons in daylight
Fisherman casting his net
Boat sailing to sea
As pretty as these "lanterns" were during the day, they were spectacular at night:
Chinese lion
Goldfish
Rose
A stroll across a bridge
So, we left Auckland and had a lightning-fast 1 1/2 day layover in Singapore before returning to Haifa. We arrived at night and it was very warm--about 25 degrees C.--and took a stroll by the river. There were lots of people enjoying the warm evening and the restaurants were bustling.
Clarke Quay along the river
Funky motorcycle
Singapore is a multi-cultural, modern city with loads of huge skyscrapers. This one caught our attention:
This is a huge hotel/casino complex with a "boat" across the top
We started our jam-packed day at the Gardens by the Bay, a huge complex of indoor and outdoor gardens. This award-winning horticultural attraction houses over 500,000
plants. Really impressive!
Inside the Cloud Forest, a cooled conservatory housing a vertical garden
Carnivorous plants made of Lego!
Alligator canoe
Lush vegetation
Inside the Flower Dome conservatory
Stone sculptures and wooden goats
Interesting sculptures--something missing?
Super Tree Grove Skywalk--wonderful views from the walkway
Next it was time for lunch. Hard to choose because Singapore is well-known for its amazing food choices from many Asian regions. We decided on Indian food and wandered through the Little India neighborhood that was crowded with shops, markets and restaurants. We stopped at one veg-only place and were really impressed with what our table companion ordered. This dosi is a very thin crunchy crepe rolled into a cone. Interesting and delicious!
Dosi cone with three dipping sauces
Hindu temple
After lunch we walked through Bussorah St. where the shops are Turkish.
Bussorah Street
Our last stop of the day was to Chinatown which was extra busy because of Chinese New Year's.
Bustling street
Thian Sock Keng Temple
Chinese lanterns
So, dear readers, this ends our 2014-2015 blog. What a ride! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for our next blog from a future sabbatical! Happy trails to you...until we meet again...
