Two Days In Singapore

Lunar’s New Year was on February 18^th and we arrived to Singapore on February 19^th. We went to the Gardens by the Bay, walk around for a long time and went up to the Skyway in the Supertree Grove. The park is 101 hectares big and is intended to become an outdoor recreation space and a national icon. It contains two energy efficient conservatories: The Cloud Forest and the Flower Dom, which is the world’s largest columnless glasshouse. The Supertrees Grove’s range from 25 to 50 meters high, and it works as environmental engines for the gardens.

Botanical Garden

Supertree Grove

Marina Bay Sands Hotel. View from the Gardens

Infinity Edge Pool in Marina Bay Sands

Colombia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico y USA :)

Then we went to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. It is an integrated resort, which is the world’s second most expensive building, and includes a shopping mall, theaters, retailers and restaurants. It opened on April 27^th, 2010, and it consists of three 55-sotry towers connected at the top with a cruise shaped structure. We went all the way to the top, where the Infinity edge swimming pool is and saw a 360-degree view of Singapore’s skyline. Even though we did not go in, the view was very impressive and it was fun to be in such an iconic place. The hotel can be seen from very long distances and its design is very unique.

Merlion Park

For lunch we went to the mall at the bottom of the hotel. I had Hainanese Chicken, a national dish and enjoyed it a lot. Then we walked to the Merlion Park, and all around the Bay. Singapore’s population is over 5 million people, but only 61% are citizens, which means that more than 2 million people are foreign born (permanent residents, students, workers, etc). Due to the New Year celebrations, there were a lot of street food tents and lots and lots of people everywhere. It was very easy to move around because English is a national language.

We visited Chinatown but a lot of stores were closed. Then we headed back to the port at Harbour Front and went to the cable car station (Harbor Front) to ask how much it was, how long did it take, etc. We ended up buying round-trip tickets, so the six of us jumped into a small cabin going to Sentosa Island. It was nighttime already and we got the opportunity to pass exactly above our ship, the MV Explorer. This is probably the only time people have this opportunity, and it was very exciting to see our beautiful home with all the lights from the top.

In Sentosa we walked all the way to the beach to eat dinner there. It was a nice environment with live music. There was another Merlion on the island and of course a lot of people celebrating the beginning of the New Year.

View of the MV Explorer from the cable car

Merlion in Sentosa Island

As in Hong Kong, the port was a mall too, although Hong Kong’s was much fancier. On day two we went to a coffee shop and had Kaya toast, a typical Singaporean breakfast. Kaya is a sweet coconut and egg jam and I ordered my toasts with peanut butter too. The combination was delicious. With Emma, Amy and Frida we took a bus to the Kent Ridge Park. We did the canopy walk, floral walk, pass through the Alexandra arch, the forest walk and got to the Henderson waves, which is a pedestrian bridge. We walked about 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) that day and the temperature was really hot and humid. But it was fun. I would not have thought there was such a big forest park in Singapore. Finally we had Pakistanis lunch and back on the port I had more Kaya toast.

Henderson's Waves

Emma!! :)

In summary, I would have enjoyed Singapore more if it had not been the Lunar’s New Year because it was too crowded and I wanted to really feel the day-to-day life there, and the strict rules the country has. We never felt scared to “break the rules”