Singapore: US Embassy and quick spin through the Orchid gardens

After lunch, we headed to the US Embassy. (Shocker: no photos allowed.) The security was tight. We were asked to stand in a holding pen outside (95+ degree weather and we're all in business casual-- awesome) and finally were escorted in for security screenings one at a time. The guard even asked me to drink out of my water bottle to prove it wasn't some sort of hazardous liquid. Fair enough.

We had two people discuss the Singapore-U.S. relations with us in a tiny room inside the embassy. It was an interesting presentation where they talked about the country in the micro and macro economic climates.

Next, we had an hour before our visit to ASTAR to swing by the Singapore Botanic Gardens. We blew through the orchid garden in about 25 minutes-- they were beautiful though, and it made a nice break in the day. (Karen, I thought you'd like these photos especially!)

And next up for the evening: a company visit to ASTAR, a group dinner at the House of Sundanese at the Boat Quay, followed hopefully by an early night. We're all dragging now that the time change has finally caught up to us...