Today we got a little bit of a lazy start after our full day today, and decided to take it easy and only hit the botantical gardens. We got there around noon and I figured out some more settings on my camera that made taking pictures with the overcast sky without a flash much easier. (yay for good cameras).
The botanical gardens are really amazing, with a swan pond and simulated rain forest as well as various subsets of gardens scattered throughout including a garden expressly dedicated to members of the ginger family. So we wandered for several hours and just got inside the orchid gardens when it started to sprinkle. So we broke out the umbrella (just had the small one with us) and continued on. Unfortunately, we only got through a little less than half the garden when the sky let loose with buckets full of rain, that inhibited our progress substantially as we only brought the one umbrellas with us and a backpack. So we took cover under a little pavillion thinking we would wait it out, but after a substantial amount of time it was obvious it was not going to quit anytime soon. So we packed it up after a snack, and walked leisurely through part of the gardens to get back to the bus stop, sharing the umbrella. Back at the hotel we dried off a bit, changed and hopped over to Nooch Noodle Bar for dinner. Very tasty indeed!! I had a Thai noodle concotion rich in garlic and ginger with duck meat and rice noodles, and Stephen had beef udon. Good stuff. Then some window shopping and back to the room for some down time, as we realized that we were both pretty tired and wanting a quiet evening alone. Something we haven't had for at least a month.
So not a whole lot here, tomorrow we plan to pick up the pace from today.
