Our trip is coming to a close!!!

With both sadness and anticipation, our Australasian trip is coming to a close.  The sadness is due to our leaving an incredibly vibrant city/state where something is going on all the time.  Naturally, we found a music festival with four days of live acts.  Bastian Baker is a singer songwriter from Switzerland who really knows how to work the crowd.

Another thing that shouldn't surprise most of you; we found the world's highest brewery.  Now granted, we aren't talking about a Colorado ski area brewery at 9,000 feet elevation.  We're talking about Level 33, which is a brewery on the 33rd floor of Tower 1 at the Marina Bay Financial Center.  It offers five of their own brews including a stout, an IPA and a porter.  Interestingly, the porter is a pour of one part stout and one part IPA, and it was good.  Level 33 may also be the world's only brewery in a financial tower that boasts its own elevator that whisks publicans from zero to 33 almost as quickly as one can say "I'll have another."  We were hot from walking around and decided to sit inside.  Here is our view from the top.

While the photo is a little washed out, it shows the four new financial district towers on the left (kind of blueish in color).  The shortest one in the front right is Tower 1.  It is hard to see, but near the top of Tower 1, just below where the roof begins to angle up to the right, is a row of large windows.  That is Level 33.  The Singapore Merlion is in the foreground, just above the stern of the boat.  The Merlion, not to be confused with a mermaid, is the symbol of Singapore.

This photo shows your humble bloggers being sprayed by the Merlion at night.

Here is part of the laser light show the Marina Bay Sands Hotel puts on every night. 

There is also some pretty cool artwork from mosaics, to street paintings (only in designated areas), to sculpture.  Check out this photo that shows part of a "chrome balls" sculpture on the left, and a living sculpture of different species of tropical plants planted vertically on the right.  If you look closely enough at the living sculpture, you can see why Singapore has such a global outlook (an maybe pinpoint your own home).

This lighted sculpture depicts someone seated hugging his knees. 

Last but not least is the following sculpture.  We don't know the artists who created the previous sculptures, but we did recognize the fellow who sculpted this "Homage to Newton."  Click on the photo and enlarge the plaque and see if you recognize the artist.

While we are leaving all this and more (including a long-term battle with traveler's tummy!), we are anxiously anticipating getting back to fresh air, clean water, mountains, much better beer, a lawn that needs mowing, (the usual food) and most of all, our great Bozeman friends.  We will be home Monday night!

For those who do not live in Bozeman, we hope to see you soon, too.