This week we enjoyed a bit of luxury getting ourselves back to Singapore to finally see the Jewel at Changi Airport and tour all the Gardens by the Bay, near the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel. One more very comfortable, although early, flight brought us to Bangkok, Thailand where we tried Medical Tourism for the first time. The post got already pretty long so most of the delicious food pictures will come next week, but there should be plenty of flowers for even the most greedy of anthophiles!
A Return to Singpore
From Adelaide we decided to use some points for Business class to get ourselves to Bangkok. Just as in 2024, we found a good deal with Singapore Airlines, which means for just a few extra points we could do a stopover to stay a few days. Last time we were recovering from some busy travel in Japan and Korea so we missed both Marina Bay Sands and the Jewel, so we made sure to put those high on our list this time!
The flight was lovely, just like last time, and we both opted for Cantonese style noodle dinners that were very delicious. As we landed in Singapore the humidity was quite a shock after so much time in a hot dry climate along Southern Australia in January.
We arrived pretty late so we just got to our hotel and slept. The next morning we took a walk to a 7-11 just for nostalgia and to a running store to pick up new versions of our go-to hiking shoes as the other ones were in pretty bad shape. We went back to these shoes over Christmas and didn’t realize these had been so beat up. For dinner we tried to order noodles similar to the ones on the plane but weren’t quite right. It was funny coming back to Asia for the first time in a few years, the air smelled familiar, the smell of incense and spices brought back memories from the first few months of full time travel.
The Jewel of Changi Airport
The next day we visited the Jewel, which is a shopping mall attached to Changi International Airport. Our flights were either very early or very late, the main attraction at the Jewel only runs from 10am-10pm so we had to make a special trip back to the airport one of the days. Last time we didn’t know where to go for the Jewel and went through immigration before we realized that was a mistake! If you arrive to the airport from a flight, or from the metro, you have to look for the signs in Terminal 1 directing you to the far right hand side of the check-ins where you’ll find a skyway directing you there.
It’s a bit of a walk down the skyway but once you arrive you see the waterfall right away! You’re about 2-3 stories up and a ton of people are there trying to get pictures, many with luggage. We found a stairway to get to the main level and walked around taking pictures and sometimes sitting on some of the stepped areas with others taking in the waterfall. The mist was cooling but it was very humid in there, plus quite busy.
The mall had some fun things, but I was surprised to find something from Minnesota: Red Wing Shoes! After walking around we found a Japanese restaurant to get a mid day lunch of tempura and then washed it down with some bubble tea (or bubble milk in my case since I ordered incorrectly, whoops!).
We kept walking up to the top level to get some pictures but most of it requires a paid ticket and apparently its a much quieter place to watch the water and trains from above but we decided we didn’t need to do that so we made our way back to the hotel.
If you can get there at the right time they do light shows after about 7pm so maybe our next flight through there I’ll plan better. You can actually go right to the jewel early in the day and if your airline supports it (especially with Singapore Airlines) you can check your bags early right in the jewel, explore the mall all day, and then go into the airport when it’s time to get to your flight. There are luggage storage options if your airline doesn’t do that in case any of you decide to visit Singapore.
Garden by the Bay
The last day we were there we headed back to Marina Bay Sands hotel, the iconic three towers connected by a top garden in the heart of Singapore Harbor. Last time we walked there but didn’t get tickets to go up and got confused trying to find the free parts of the garden. We didn’t have much time then as it was the day we flew out and had to get to the airport. This time I purchased tickets for the tower and the extra gardens and it made it easier to find the free parts, plus we had the whole day. Here’s a map in case any of you want to go there someday:
We took the metro to Promenade station to cross the helix pedestrian bridge but there was a bunch of construction going on. They were building a new stadium on pylons creating a dock over the harbor! I suppose if there isn’t real estate to build sometimes you have to make your own.
Then we headed under an overpass that caused the confusion last time, as it didn’t look like entrance to gardens. Needing a bit of fuel before starting through the gardens, we stopped by the Starbucks and had some tasty pastries and some caffeine. It was really pretty inside with flowers and greenery, definitely fit in well with the gardens.
Soon it was time to get into the Flower Dome before it got too busy. It’s a huge area with different levels, temperatures and humidity to support plant life from a variety of climates. There were sections devoted to Australian, South African, Mediterranean and North American plants to name just a few! There were fun sculptures hidden in the flowers and trees such as this owl!
We worked our way through the permanent areas to their special exhibit in the middle that changes every few months or so, and their Japanese exhibit had just opened. Everywhere I turned I saw another flower I really loved and really was enjoying myself! Of all the things we did in the Gardens, this flower dome is my favorite, and I would go back again to see the special exhibits, definitely worthwhile!
It was already getting pretty busy in the Flower dome so we headed to the cloud forest before that was too full. They also had a theme here but they aren’t likely to change this as often, I think it’s only been there since 2025 from what I can tell.
There are several animatronic dinosaurs throughout and one area had a mini show every 15 minutes or so with a worker talking about one of the dinosaurs Mr. Wander recognized from the original movies. I haven’t actually seen any of them, as Mr. Wander likes to remind me.
You enter on the ground level and then go up to the top and try and work our way back down, sometimes on these overhanging paths or sometimes inside and right behind the main waterfall. It is very humid in there, as any cloud forest should be to maintain that type of foliage.
Paths and flowers
After several floors we were ready for the next spot, the skyway in the super tree forest. You take the elevator up one tree, and you take the curved path around a second tree and then down the elevator in the third. There were some nice views up here of the hotel but it’s a pretty fast experience and I’m not sure it’d be worth it to do on it’s own, but as we bought a bundle I didn’t mind.
On the way to the last ticketed entry, we wandered past the dragonfly island which I had heard is one of the best views of the hotel, and I have to agree. It’s the perfect angle for unobstructed pictures and almost no one else around! Granted it was midday on a Thursday in January-but still, with how many people were at Flower Dome and Cloud Forest I was expecting more around the garden area but maybe they just come for those two things. There are some other fun sculptures around the garden that is fun to explore and completely free.
Flower Fantasy was the last stop on our tour of the gardens, which was quite small and reminded me a bit of one of the Team Labs rooms we were in. The theme this time was My Little Pony and I think it generally is more suited to young kids, or people who want immersive flower photos for their social media. However, there was a 4D ride at the end called flight of the dragonfly and you followed a dragonfly as it flew through all the areas of the garden, flower dome, and cloud forest. We sat in chairs that moved with the screen while wearing 3D goggles with a little spray of water when the dragonfly went by a fountain and some puffs of air on my feet when it was just over some water where fish were swimming and jumping near the surface. It was cool to see everything we had just covered that morning and a fun little ride as well, really made the whole visit to Floral fantasy worth it.
Having hit over 10,000 steps we were ready for lunch! We went into the mall at the base of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and found some comfort food: mac and cheese, biscuits, a loaded salad and some delicious bourbon cocktails. This mall has more of the high end brands that I don’t usually shop at but the Gondolas moving through the canals along the mall were really interesting. You can pay to do rides if you would like and there are some restaurants in between some of the canals!
Soon it was time for our time slot to go up to the sky deck in the hotel. You enter in through the tower that is closest to where we entered the garden, go up an elevator, and then can explore this one end of the tower. Much of this sky deck has a pool and loungers for those staying at the hotel and a few restaurants. The nicer bar requires about $400 Singapore dollar minimum bar tab, reservations, and a dress code. There was a little concession area and we had purchased food and beverage with our ticket, so we got some pizza and a beer each and enjoyed the view. At least until they kicked us out at 4:30pm for some event, or just to clear it out before the more expensive evening tickets, they didn’t give a reasoning.
We headed back to the restaurants along the waterfront to get more drinks and dessert but we were fairly tired, too full to waste time in a restaurant, and decided not to wait for the night show this time. Oh well, another reason to come back to Singapore, I don’t mind! We took the metro back and turned in early as we had a pickup for the airport at 4:30am!
Medical Tourism in Thailand
Our early morning flight brought us into Bangkok at about 8am. We had organized an airport pickup which went very smoothly until we hit the morning traffic! It took nearly 2 hours to get to our hotel when it normally should be an hour. It was still too early to check in though so we just dropped our bags and headed to a nearby coffee shop.
We had decided to stay in the same hotel as before since we knew it was really nice, very close to Mr. Wanders Aunt and Uncle, and easy to access the sky train or metro if needed. So this coffee shop we had been to before and knew they had pastries so we got some drinks and snacks and enjoyed watching the business casual cats run around the building.
When we got back to the hotel, we had planned to hang out in the lobby for awhile but our room was ready and they had already brought up our bags for us! I had forgotten just how good Southeast Asia hospitality can be. We relaxed in the afternoon and just got room service for dinner, but we knew they had good Pad Thai so it was still a treat.
We went to bed early both because we had gotten up so early that day and had to be up a little early again the following day – and we had to make sure we were fasted 8 hours! A few weeks prior we purchased a medical checkup package through Bangkok International Hospital.
We had heard of medical tourism, where you get your main checkups abroad where costs are more affordable, and some people even choose to do elective surgeries. The nomadic couple we met in December had just done this in Thailand and that convinced us to try it out while we were making the trip to visit family. I looked at a few different hospitals but this one had the tests we wanted for a good price and great reputation, without being too “luxury”. They have recommended packages based on your age, but we decided to both do the 30-39 package, even though Mr. Wander is slightly past that. For both of us the total came to just under $800 USD. Check out the next few pictures for the tests if you are curious, there are a few of these that individually would cost at least $400 in the US!
It was pretty busy at 7am, we had a time slot from 7-12 but perhaps most people show up right when it opens like we did. After checking in on the main level with our passports, they sent us up to level 4 which is where they intake international patients. Mostly I heard them speaking English when talking to other patients to take them to the next steps but there were several there from China as well.
After getting checked in upstairs, Mr. Wander was called for vitals and a blood draw and then got a sheet to fill out medical history and concerns. It took a long time for them to call me but it seems like there was someone else with my same first name in there. They at least caught it early enough that no tests got confused.
I got my vitals and paperwork taken care of and they also gave us wristbands with numbers for identification, a bag with a cup for a sample, a bottle of water, and a voucher for breakfast. Mr. Wander was told to go to level 5 and me to level 6 to change into something like scrubs, and then sit in the waiting area for our numbers to get called or put up on the various screens. First I had the chest x-ray, then the EKG, and finally the abdominal ultrasound. Then they told us where to leave our samples near the bathrooms and then we changed back into our normal clothes and returned to level 4. As it would be 45 minutes for the results, they recommended that we eat breakfast while we waited.
On the second level there was a skyway to an area with several little cafes or restaurants that would take our voucher and we got some pastries and some tea and coffee for breakfast. We still had to wait awhile once we got back but finally they brought us to see the doctor together. They went over each of our results and then did a short physical exam and he suggested an action plan for things like increasing Vitamin D, or taking fish oil, which we were able to find at a pharmacy in one of the malls a block from our hotel.
One thing that did come up for Mr. Wander was one of the EKG charts wasn’t normal, and the doctor was trying to explain that it was likely an old heart attack that “healed itself”. We both were a bit confused, and Mr. Wander even tried asking if that can happen if the EKG isn’t connected right as he remembers them slipping and needing to get reattached. The doctor was adamant it wasn’t that and recommended we come back for a stress test, essentially an EKG while on a treadmill.
We were able to schedule for a few days later and thankfully everything was fine and the cardiologist said they basically measured his chest wall and that result was likely to be a slipping electrode. They still made us visit the first doctor at the end and he seemed to double down a bit but sometimes the ego will get the better of people. We were both just relieved the cardiologist said his heart looked good, especially after a few days of stress!
Next Time
After our first day of tests, we were able to meet up with Mr. Wander’s Aunt and Uncle for the first of several dinners, a tour of a unique neighborhood in Bangkok, and even a movie! I was finally able to take my Thai Cooking class and we met up with another nomadic couple at a really cool park in the city. After a week in Bangkok we headed to Bali for several days of relaxation as the rainy season began. Check back next week for all the food!
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