After a long but fun day, we had a great night of sleep which meant we wouldn’t have to deal with jet lag for the rest of the trip. We had another packed day planned so after a morning dip in the pool, we were off.
Our first stop was the Singapore Flyer, one of the tallest Ferris wheels in the world.
Unfortunately, we’ve been having some bad luck and it happened to be closed that day. Instead, we went to the nearby Suntec City and Millenia Walk malls.
There happened to be another branch of the Keisuke ramen chain here, so we popped in for some lunch. I had a Chinese pork bone noodle soup instead of ramen, which was delicious.
As you can see, my girlfriend really enjoyed the bottomless beansprouts and egg here.
After lunch, we walked over to the Esplanade. This is the main performing arts center in Singapore, designed in the shape of two Durians, the national fruit.
There was a nice public library in here as well as some art exhibits. My favourite part was the rooftop garden that had sweeping views of Marina Bay.
At last, it was time to step inside Marina Bay Sands. MBS is a massive hotel, casino, shopping, convention, and entertainment complex built by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The iconic three tower design is topped off by a huge cantilever roof known as the Sands SkyPark. The most famous part is the infinity pool on the roof, overlooking the Singaporean skyline.
We started at the base of the complex, the Shoppes at MBS.
Then we visited the hotel lobby, which has a very high atrium with a large suspended metal art sculpture.
Finally, we took the high speed elevator up to the 57th floor SkyPark. From here, we had an incredible 360 degree bird’s eye view of Singapore.
Here is Gardens By the Bay, which we would be visiting next.
The central business district.
The Singapore Flyer and National Stadium in the background.
The Art Science Museum, shaped like a lotus flower.
The world's largest floating stadium which was built for the Singapore Grand Prix. Now it looks like the world largest gathering of bouncy castles.
This was as close as I could get to the infinity pool, which is restricted to hotel guests only.
In front of MBS are two floating ‘crystal’ pavilions. At the time, I believe they were used for a huge LV store and a nightclub. A flagship Apple Store has since replaced it.
Around the back of MBS is the path towards Gardens by the Bay, a huge man-made complex of indoor and outdoor gardens.
The outdoor area had a number of animal sculptures scattered throughout the gardens.
Gardens by the Bay has three main attractions – the Flower Dome, the Cloud Forest, and the Supertree Grove. The first two are both indoor conservatories, so we decided to go for the Cloud Forest only.
This was a truly spectacular structure, spanning many floors. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
The cooling mist that was periodically sprayed across the dome was particularly nice.
Next, we went out to see the Supertree Grove.
The true magic starts once the sun sets.
We ended the day with another great light show as the trees danced to the music.
Moments like this kind of makes me feel like I’m in another world. Singapore has been one of my favourite cities since I first visited in 2011. These new additions continue to reaffirm my love for this city.
