Before I talk too much about Singapore, you HAVE to discuss the new icon, located in all it’s showy glamour directly across the Marina Bay from the Merlion & the central business district, the Marina Bay Sands complex. This insane building with three towers topped by a sort of boat looking platform is, by far, the new symbol of Singapore. And it is crazy, and recognizable from everywhere. The hotel is pretty ritzy, and only registered guests have access to the amazing roof-top ininity pool with views out over the city, but luckily there are bars at the top of each tower for non-guests to access. There is also a MASSIVE mall just in front of the hotel, complete with a giant casino (free for foreigners- so bring your passport shopping!). There is also a super cool lotus-shaped building which is apparently an art & science museum, but I didn’t quite get a chance to go in that one.
But here’s my story with this amazing building, which I will never forget. As going to the top is a lovely happy hour activity, my friends who were hosting me agreed to make it one of my “last hurrahs” in town. We agreed that they would meet me there after work on my last Friday night. Well, I was SO excited to get there for sunset, camera ready, and had even planned to get there a little earlier than my friends in order to get a nice table before the post-work crowds came in that I made a small, but KEY miscalculation. Me, the insane map reader, travel expert, and guide-book reader did NOT double check the metro stop for the hotel. I knew it was “one past” the Marina Bay stop, and just did a quick double check with my friends’ helper, who has lived in the city for the past year for pete’s sake. Well dear friends, it IS one pas the Marina Bay stop, but on a different line. I went to the Marina South Pier stop, NOT the Bayfront stop. As soon as I exited I knew I’d made a mistake, but asked one of the few “locals” I encountered who didn’t have great English skills about walking to the building (just pointing – it’s visible from basically everywhere out there), and he motioned “just go left”, like it wasn’t a big deal. Well. It was. I ended up walking at LEAST thirty minutes in the fading hot sun, before finally arriving to the massive hotel, and it was JUST a mess. I did finally pay to get up to the bar at the top where my friends would be (but first had to get a code to the wifi from a reception desk to make sure I even SHOULD go up top), and had a quick drink before we had to go meet other friends for dinner – but my lovely experience was definitely marred. No sunset or anything. SO – remember to double check the directions before you set out people!! I have this great pic of the building, but I wish I had more from up top!!
Back behind the iconic MBS, on the other side from town, is the ultra cool & futuristic Gardens by the Bay. This is just a crazy cool garden that you can wander for free, OR buy tickets to any number of other attractions in the gardens. First up is the amazing (and slightly nerve wracking even for those not worried about heights) skywalk. This one gets you up close & personal with the faux-Avatar trees. Once they’re fully covered by the vegetation that’s slowly growing up them, these will be even more fantastic – but even now the views over the city and the MBS building are just spectacular. At night, the trees even have their own sort of light show, which is also supposed to be great. Then, the real reason why most people come to the gardens, there are two different air conditioned (very important fact!) domed ecosystems. I didn’t have time to visit the “Cloud Forest” one, which is apparently even more fantastic, but I did love wandering around the Flower Dome! Now, you will see decorations still up for Christmas, but note that I was there in January. Christmas & holiday decorations are a very big deal here, and they just leave them up until it’s time to change over to Chinese New Year (which was coming soon). I was at the gardens with my friends’ helper (from the Philippines) and their daughter (the cutest little thing ever!), and the helper couldn’t understand why I wasn’t more overjoyed with the Christmas decorations… but I guess, for me, once you’ve seen one Santa-land at the mall, you’ve seen them all (even if they are quite elaborate!). All that said- a trip to Singapore probably wouldn’t quite be complete without seeing this whole futuristic garden, whether you pay to enter any of the domes or skywalk or not!
The whole peninsula that holds both the MBS complex and Gardens by the Bay is connected back to the city by the super cool Helix bridge (named b/c it does look like the DNA double helix), where you can wrap back around to the colonial district via some more shopping, lots of cool outdoor dining & drinking establishments (where we chose to watch the nightly light show after our drink at MBS), and the cool symphony building. Just to the right of the Helix bridge is the Singapore Flyer – the largest “Observation Wheel” in the world (until Las Vegas’ High Roller was completed). This was another tourist attraction I didn’t quite have time for – but you can have dinner up there and all the ex-pats I met did say it was cool and worth doing, if you’re into that. The views down over MBS and the Gardens by the Bay MUST be special, but I’m not sad that I missed it. All-in-all, though all this modern stuff out in front of the colonial district may be a touch more artificial and pristine than many travelers look for, it IS pretty cool stuff you should check out!