It really is the New York of Asia
- another city that never sleeps. Skyscrapers, hundreds of taxis, swarms of
people moving from home to work, then back again. Always on the go. I love the
energy, the movement, the lights and sounds. You have to love a city that puts
on extravagant nightly light shows from the top of the triple towers, Marina
Bay and along the waterfront – and also in the Super Tree forest in the Gardens
the Bay. Vegas-esk without the hangover (or with depending).
Our morning started with a choice
of where to have breakfast; room service or one of seven restaurants. We
thought we’d check out the options on level 57. One restaurant was for certain
guests only – the ones that paid for the super expensive rooms. Another wasn’t
even open yet. And the last looked amazing with tables perched on a balcony
overlooking the harbour with its parade of tankers and shipping vessels. The
waiter showed us to our table and poured coffee and juice before handing us a
menu. Gourmet breakfast dishes were listed, almost all to do with eggs cooked
in various interesting ways. The waiter asked us for our choices, but there was
nothing for me. Luckily, the entire buffet was also included. As we ate, J and
I only speculated how much this breakfast would be. Until we left and received
the bill, we guessed it would be a $100 breakfast – each!. As it turned out, it
was only $85, plus tax, plus service charge. Oh well. We were given what I
could only guess was a $200-$300 per night upgrade to that magnificent suite.
It was worth it.
In the Supertree Grove, we paid
the $5 each to walk the OCBA Skyway – a suspension bridge-like structure
spanning two of the artificial, super-trees, 22 metres up, commanding beautiful
views over the entire garden. Each supertree housed its own vertical garden
containing bromeliads, orchids and ferns all growing up each tree’s trunk.
Truly wonderful.
By now we both had dark circles
of sweat under our armpits and were ready for somewhere cooler. The gardens
also include two glass domes. Like bio-spheres, each houses different enclosed
gardens: the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. We happened to be visiting when
the flower dome had a tulip exhibition. Clogs, windmills, and hundreds of
colourful tulips greeted us as we walked through the entrance. Many locals were
posing in front of the multi-coloured blooms taking photos of family and loved
ones. Though it was named the Flower Dome, it housed an extensive collection of
succulents and cactus, including balboa trees from both Australia and Africa.
One of the most impressive views looks out over the displays in conjunction
with the symmetrical steel supports of the dome’s superstructure making for
interesting angles and patterns.
The Cloud Forest had an equally
interesting structure but instead of a spread out garden, it housed a
artificial small mountain with a vertical garden growing bromeliads, orchids,
ferns and palms around it’s sides. At the main entrance, a 10 metre waterfall sprays visitors as you acclimatise to the cool
temperature. A lift takes you to level 6 and the top of the waterfall where you
make you way down various walkways, through various climate zones representing
the differences found in mountain ranges. The plants at each level corresponded
to the climate zone, with beautiful orchids and palms. Other displays showed
limestone formations and crystals, and a powerful video about global warming
shown at the ground level as you exited reminded you of how fragile this planet
really is. By the time we left, I was genuinely cold and revelled in the
Singapore heat outside.
Time for lunch. We returned to
the Marina Bay walking back through the gardens, across a bridge over the
dragonfly lake and gorgeous plants and dragonfly sculptures to the towering
hotel. A quick trip to the suite to rinse the face and we decided to wander
through the mega mall connected to the complex to find something there. It took
a while to find our way to the food court area – with an in-line skating rink –
but we found our way there by following the tempting smells. You name it, they
had it, well in so far as Asian cuisines go, plus a burger joint. It took us 20
minutes to walk around the all the food stalls, each with an Asian speciality
(but very few obvious veggie options). Through lake of adventure and laziness, we
chose the burger joint for no other reason than it was relatively cheap and had
multiple veggie burgers to choose from, plus a large assortment of meat ones
too. Plus, with the next 3 weeks to be spent in Myanmar, where we were not expecting
to eat much western food, we thought we should have our last western fast food
fix before we left. And it wasn’t too bad.
From there, we had many laughs
and fun traipsing through the stores, finding some unique wears at a gadget
store, as well as many crazy fashions, not to mention hugely expensive
accessories. Singapore is no longer a shopping paradise unless you have a lot
of money. We enjoyed going through the Louis Vuitton store for the mini gallery
of pieces plus the novelty of emerging outside on Singapore bay.
Discovering dark skies and a big downpour
imminent when we walked back to the mall, we decided to spent the remainder of
the afternoon at the Art and Science museum nearby. Its that quirky white lotus
like structure you can see from many places on Singapore bay. Surprising large
inside, we lucked in with a Mummy exhibition and a Lego display. We saw the Tutankhamen
exhibition when it came to Melbourne, which was excellent, but the Mummy exhibition
was equally good. There were many artefacts from Egyptian tombs, and the
display was built around the story of a priest who’s mummy had been discovered
relatively intact. Not only was the mummy and case one display, but there were
four other mummies as well as a mummified cat. When we emerged we were
surprised at how long we had spent inside.
The Lego display was also
wonderful in a totally different way. Many colourful Lego sculptures of people,
pictures and objects kept us amazed as we walked through. My favourites were
the Lego portraits of some famous people, including Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix,
and Bob Dylan. The other displays were also interesting. I just loved the
architecture of the building and how much floor space it provided. From outside
you wouldn’t think there was that much space.
Our day almost at an end, we had
a fast Thai meal for dinner before heading back to the hotel for some beers and
another dip in the pool at that magnificent sky deck. . Looking out over the
spectacular city view, the nightly light and sound display lit up the sky. We
mused about how much we loved Singapore. I knew I’d be back – not just to the
airport. We had many sights in the small nation yet to visit so we bid an
early, “Good night” to the city. The following day, we had an early flight to
Yangon.
- K
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